Texas | Former death row inmate graduates from TWU with master's degree

A North Texas man has earned his Master's degree, a feat made extra special when you consider he was once on death row for a murder he did not commit.

His exoneration offered him a 2nd chance.

Ryan Matthews, the new owner of a master's degree in business analytics from Texas Woman's University, had to overcome the obstacle of a lifetime to get here.

He was convicted of murder in Louisiana and spent years on death row for the killing of a convenience store clerk.

"It was 5 on death row, it was 7 1/2 years total," Matthews said.

Matthews was arrested in 1997 when he was just 17 years old.

"All I could do was hope and pray that one day the truth would come out," he said.

DNA evidence led to his exoneration in 2004.

Matthews says he formed a strong bond with the advocates who fought to have his case reviewed and ultimately overturned.

He shared with us a collection of photos that chronicle his journey.

"I always kept hope, but it wasn’t a guarantee that I would be free. So all I could do was hope and I prepared, like I said while I was in there, I read and did certain things so that one day, when I’m out, I wouldn’t be so far behind. That’s the biggest misconception. Just because you’re innocent, that doesn’t mean you’re coming home," he said.

Through it all, getting an education was a priority.

"When I came home that was my whole goal. My mother, she always taught education, get your education and that stuck with me," Matthews recalled.

He started with his GED, soon afterward, college and a bachelor's degree. Now he's a proud Master's degree recipient.

His proudest supporters: his mom, his sister, niece and 4 children.

"I thank God every day just for waking up, to be out. The small things, to be able to go places on my own accord. Being able to work, being able to provide. Small things like seeing my son graduate," Matthews explained.

Matthews has several job interviews lined up in the finance and investment banking fields. He says the past is behind him and now, he's focused on the future.

"It’s hard to do it for myself because I know I’m not finished, you know, it’s just a stepping stone," he said.

Source: Fox News, Staff, December 15, 2023

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Oklahoma | Richard Glossip on Life After Decades on Death Row

In an exclusive interview at home in Oklahoma City, Glossip describes his first days of freedom in a world he hasn’t experienced for nearly 30 years. For three decades, Richard Glossip lived on concrete. First at the Oklahoma County jail, after his arrest for murder in 1997, and then in the underground bunker housing death row inmates at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. As with the rest of his surroundings, he eventually got used to the hard, unforgiving floors, although recently he’d developed painful swelling in his legs.

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20 Minutes to Death: Witness to the Last Execution in France

The following document is a firsthand account of the final moments of Hamida Djandoubi, a convicted murderer executed by guillotine at Marseille’s Baumettes Prison on September 10, 1977. The record—dated September 9—was written by Monique Mabelly, a judge appointed by the state to witness the proceedings. Djandoubi’s execution would ultimately be the last carried out in France before capital punishment was abolished in 1981. At the time, President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing—who had publicly voiced his "deep aversion to the death penalty" prior to his election—rejected Djandoubi’s appeal for clemency. Choosing to let "justice take its course," the President allowed the execution to proceed, just as he had in two previous cases during his term: Christian Ranucci , executed on July 28, 1976 and Jérôme Carrein , executed on June 23, 1977. Hamida Djandoubi , a Tunisian national, was sentenced to death for killing his former lover, Elisabeth Bousquet. He was execu...

New Mississippi billboard warns criminals: ‘Firing squad is legal’

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Can the state execute a man who already survived? | Opinion

A second execution would be an unimaginable nightmare for Tony Carruthers and a moral horror for the rest of us. Tony Carruthers is not supposed to be alive . On May 21, Tennessee set out to execute him. It failed. Carruthers survived. He is not the first person to survive an execution in the United States, and he won’t be the last. For Carruthers, the question is: Now what? Will the state seek to arrange a second execution?

Florida | The Daily Routine of Death Row Inmates

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Iraq: German schoolgirl, 17, turned jihadi bride escapes death penalty and is jailed for six years

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