This summer has been one of the quietest in the history of Texas' death row. No prisoners have been executed since March. But the state is planning to put three people to death in the coming months, starting with Jedidiah Murphy on Oct. 10, a date that happens to fall on the World Day Against the Death Penalty.
Michael Zoosman, co-founder of L'chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty, has corresponded with Murphy, who is Jewish, for years. "I have gotten to know Jedidiah very well," he said. "From day one, he has been honest with me that he is guilty of the crime that led him to death row. He has not made any excuses for his actions. He's been contrite. He's been repentant from day one."
Like most on death row, Murphy had a childhood marked by abuse and abandonment. His father was a violent alcoholic who beat him and his mother. When his parents separated, Murphy was raised for a time by his grandparents, until they were unable to care for him. He and his brother were then wards of the state's broken foster care system, in and out of different homes. By 13, he had begun drinking and had developed a mental illness later diagnosed as dissociative personality disorder. In 2000, at the age of 24, he killed 79-year-old Bertie Cunningham while high on cocaine. He confessed to the crime and led police to Cunningham's body. He fell asleep for portions of his trial, incapable of showing emotion because of his mental disorder and the psychotropic medications he was being given.
“From day one, he has been honest with me that he is guilty of the crime that led him to death row. He has not made any excuses for his actions. He’s been contrite. He’s been repentant from day one.” – Michael Zoosman, Co-founder of L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty
But after spending 25 years on death row, Murphy is a changed man, Zoosman said. "He has said many times that if he could he would give his life for the life that he took. He's not wanting to be freed. He recognizes that he should be punished for what he has done. But he maintains that he can do more from prison in helping others not to follow the path that he followed."
As a prison chaplain, Zoosman has encountered inmates who have responded to death row in different ways. "I have seen and am in touch with people who I feel might still be a danger to themselves and others if let out into society. But many – many – have changed. And Jedidiah is not even asking to be let out into society. He is simply asking not to be put to death."
Zoosman and Abraham Bonowitz of Death Penalty Action are urging people to send written letters to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and to Gov. Greg Abbott, asking that they spare Murphy's life. There's also an online petition at actionnetwork.org.
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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde