It was a case of wrong time, wrong place for Amber Matthews. The 23-year-old had no idea when she went to visit a friend who needed help looking after her children that laughing killer Wendell Grissom would choose that house at random... THE SMILING ASSAS

WENDELL Grissom has never tried to deny his guilt.

He viciously slaughtered Amber Matthews, 23, and horrifically wounded her friend, Lauren Dreu Kopf in a home invasion horror.

Lauren and her children – one of whom was just five weeks old at the time – somehow survived the ordeal.

They still live with the mental scars, though.

Yet sick Grissom has seen fit to pen a series of letters from his cell on Death Row in Oklahoma moaning about how unpleasant it is behind bars.

In one blog post on the website Minutes Before Six, he grumbles: “My cell is four cement walls and a ceiling. The only

PLEADING FOR MERCY: Amber Matthews was shot while holding her friend’s baby window I have is in the door and it looks out onto the hallway.

“We’re supposed to receive one hour of recreation every day but there’s no yard here. You can’t see anything because of the 30ft cement walls and the only opening is at the very top which allows fresh air and, if the sun’s out, a little sunlight.

“I’ve been in this cell since 2008. The only times I leave it are for visits or medical appointments.”

Former trucker and raging alcoholic Grissom says he realises he’s “not at

HOUSE OF HORROR: Home of Lauren Dreu Kopf summer camp” but adds: “We’re still human beings. People don’t treat dogs the way we’re treated here.

“The food is always cold and nasty. They butcher horses here in Oklahoma and the meat goes to the prison system.”

And who’s to blame for the crimes he committed? According to Grissom, it’s all down to the faulty human genes he was unfortunate to receive.

“Yes, I did some horrible things,” he admits.

“And, even though I was intoxicated beyond any sense or reason, there’s absolutely no excuse for it.

“But I didn’t try to get away with what I did. Once I sobered up I felt so bad that I confessed to it all. The human race will never be perfect. It’s in our genes to fail, be it in any manner.

“I hate where I’m at and I sincerely regret what I’ve done.

“If I could give my own life to undo it, I would in a minute. But the reality of it is, I can’t.”

The state of Oklahoma can, and will, take Grissom’s life.

In the meantime, for the families of Amber and Lauren, no amount of repenting can ever undo his evil.

In truly excruciating courtroom testimony, Lauren revealed how Grissom had openly laughed in her face as she begged him not to enter her home.

Grissom shot Lauren twice, in the head and stomach, before leaving her for dead and turning his attentions to Amber.

He chased Amber around a bedroom despite her screaming, pleading with him not to kill her.

Then he shot her twice in the head – once as she held Lauren’s shrieking five-week-old daughter.

When Grissom was eventually handed his death sentence in March 2008, Judge David Lewis was in no doubt that it was an appropriate punishment.

He said: “Wendell Grissom attempted to murder the homeowner and, surely believing he had succeeded, he executed her friend with two shots to the head.

“He gave a detailed confession within hours of the shootings. He was able to recount the details of his recent activities and his life history leading up to the crimes.

“He also effectively admitted his guilt of murder at trial, hoping to avoid the extreme punishment.”

Like many convicted killers, Arkansas native Grissom, now 51, had a poor start to life that eatured injury, learning difficulties and sexual abuse.

Terese Hall, a forensic psychologist and a professor at Oral Roberts University, revealed how Grissom had been sexually molested for several years, beginning when he was around nine, by an adult brother-in-law.

Hall said Grissom didn’t tell anyone about the abuse at the time and remained reluctant to discuss it even as an adult as he found it shameful and upsetting.

Grissom’s birth had been a difficult one and he’d been starved of oxygen during the delivery.

It led to severe speech problems as a child, for which he underwent years of therapy and was teased at school.

Grissom was described as “very shy, withdrawn and awkward” as a child as well as “anxious, depressed and socially isolated”.

A series of motorcycle accidents only made matters worse, leaving him with further learning difficulties and causing him to quit school at 16.