What made you decide to write this non-fiction work? My childhood and young adult memories of how “hometown” communities were devastated by murders happening so close to home inspired me to write their stories. These same communities welcomed me back to share with me their loved ones’ tales.
An unsolved case that entered my life in 1978, and never left, moved me to find the victim’s family and write their story. A fifteen-year-old “cold case” that was solved with advanced forensic technology encouraged me to write that story. I trust it will bring hope to all families of victims of unsolved cases that one day their loved one’s killer will be found.
Every case has its own story to tell and every crime has a victim. As special agent/forensic photographer of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), my work entailed helpingthe victims. My book is about remembering the victims. By putting the names of the ones whose lives were taken in print, they can never be forgotten or erased.
Can you talk about your experience of researching this non-fiction work? And the dates of when you began researching and when your research was complete? Living through these hometown cases as a child and into my adult life, I blended my childhood memories and later the research into the official facts of the cases.
In essence, I started as a child and then during my tenure as Special Agent with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), I did research of the official case files and court transcripts. After my retirement with SLED, in 2001, I continued research on the cases. My research and writing were complete 2009.
What is the date you began writing this piece of non-fiction and the date when you finished writing the piece of non-fiction?
Began writing -2007
Completed writing – 2009
Where did you do most of your writing for this non-fiction work? At home at my computer.
What were your writing habits while writing this work- did you drink something as you wrote, listen to music, write in pen and paper, directly on laptop; specific time of day? No specific time of day…I wrote any time of day, and into the evening hours. I kept a pad & pencil by my bed in case I woke up with a thought and details that I might want to research and include in my manuscript. I sometimes snacked and in moderation enjoyed a cocktail.
Please include an excerpt of one FACT or one set of FACTS that you were most impacted by in this non-fiction work. The excerpt can be as short or as long as you prefer.
On Friday morning, January 13, 1956, the electrocution of Samuel Wright Jr. was carried out at the state penitentiary in Columbia, South Carolina.
Headlines in the State on Saturday, January 14, 1956, read, “Ax Murderer Wright is Dragged to Chair.” The article by the Associated Press reported that Wright was huddled under blankets for more than an hour before the 7:00 a.m. electrocution time. Three ministers were in the room and sang hymns. When guards entered the cell, Wright refused to get up. Guards placed metal “twisters” around his wrists and half dragged and half carried him to the execution chamber. The ministers followed behind him still singing hymns. As Wright was being strapped into the chair, he was hysterical and sobbing, “I didn’t mean to kill nobody. In Jesus name, I told the truth about all I done. The Lord knows I never meant to kill nobody. Oh, Lord have mercy on me. Won’t ya’ll have mercy on me…please, somebody, don’t let them kill me.”
The mask was placed over his head. Two charges of electricity were administered. Samuel Wright Jr. was pronounced dead by a prison physician at 7:08 a.m.
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Why was this one fact or one set of facts so compelling for you to discover and to write about? It helped relay the seriousness and impact of electrocution of murderers in South Carolina in 1956.
Were there any deletions from this excerpt that you can share with us? And can you please include a photo of your marked up rough drafts of this excerpt. NO deletions: Being non-fiction you have to stick with “true-facts”, so I quoted it exactly as it was in official case file documents, court transcripts, and media coverage.
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