Count Bishop Robert W. Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph among those who are asking Gov. Matt Blunt to grant clemency to convicted killer Dennis Skilicorn, according to Catholic Key, the Diocese newspaper.
Skillicorn, who has been on death row for 12 years is scheduled to be put to death Aug. 27, the first execution in Missouri since 2005:
The application's signatories requested that Skillicorn's death sentence be commuted to life in prison without parole, citing that society and public safety would be better served if he were allowed to continue the prison ministries he has instituted.
Skillicorn was arrested in 1994 for taking part in a crime spree that led to the murder of Richard Drummond in Missouri and eventually to multiple murders in Arizona. He was convicted in Drummond's murder and sentenced to death.
Since his arrest and conviction, Skillicorn has turned his life around, working for restorative justice and trying to make amends for his past criminal behavior.
Some of the reasons given for requesting mercy for Skillicorn include: He has written a book, "Today's Choices Affect Tomorrow's Dreams" - a compilation of first hand accounts by death row inmates about the consequences of their poor decisions - and is in the process of writing a second book in the same vein.
He regularly speaks to college student groups to give them insights on prison life and capital punishment.
Skillicorn serves as editor of Compassion, a newsletter written by death row prisoners across the country that focuses on healing both capital punishment offenders and murder victim's families. Subscriptions to the newsletter and donations together have raised more than $34,000 which is used to award college scholarships to victims' family members.
He founded and leads several prison programs for prisoners and their families, and Christian prison ministries.
Skillicorn has never denied his involvement in the robbery and kidnapping of Richard Drummond, but he did not commit the murder. According to Colleen Cunningham of Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty, if Skillicorn's execution is carried out, he would be the first in Missouri and only the ninth across the country to be executed as an accomplice.
More information about Skillicorn can be found in the Aug. 13 Turner Report.
No comments:
Post a Comment