Warden: Prison life and death from the inside out

Abstract

Gary Graham, death-row inmate 696, was convicted in 1981 of the robbery and murder of a man in a Houston Safeway supermarket parking lot. He has vigorously claimed to be innocent to anyone who would listen. As the date of his execution drew near, several celebrities spoke out about his execution, including actor Danny Glover. Witnesses (invited by Graham) for the execution are named as Reverend Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Bianca Jagger, and ‘George Bush, Jr.’, whom Graham identifies as a ‘friend’. Thirty-nine years old, black, two inches short of six feet tall, weighing about a hundred and fifty pounds, Gary Graham is described as the angriest person ever seen with nothing but pure hatred in his eyes. To outwit the media circus, which would have accompanied the move from the prison to the place of execution, the move was made 24 hours previously. The procedures in place to deal with the prisoner before his execution by lethal injection are described. The first-named author, who a week previous to the execution was given the most prestigious award in the prison system – Warden of the Year – describes his feelings and actions.

Keywords:

• death row
• execution
• paper overalls