Priest’s tears over fate of pen pal on death row
nlillitos@thekmgroup.co.uk Joy and sadness has often touched the life of retired priest Gill Calver, but visiting a prisoner on death row in the USA has reduced her to tears.
An exchange of letters with John Darrel Thuesen brought Gill to the gates of Polunsky Prison in Livingston , Texas.
Condemned men are incarcerated there in tiny cells on a 22- hour- a- day lock- down while awaiting their execution date – which can sometimes take decades after lengthy legal appeals.
Gill, 68, currently a chaplain to the Queen and Reverend canon at All Saints’ Church, Staplehurst, for nine years, became John’s pen pal five years ago through an organisation called Lifelines.
It offers friendship and hope before they are led to the execution chamber for death by lethal injection.
Gill, openly against capital punishment, said: “They are treated like animals – written off. The conditions are cruel, inhuman and degrading.
“If you’re in a 6ft by 10ft cell all that time you don’t have a lot to write about, but John fully comments on the letters I write.
“He is a warm, strong, well-educated person with a deep Christian faith. He has no TV or computer and no access to group recreation or craft work.
“Red tape prevented him from seeing a pastor for four years – despite an application for visits.”
John, 31, is a former US Marine, decorated with several medals and ribbons while serving in Iraq.
In 2010 he was convicted of the shooting deaths of his exgirlfriend Rachel Joiner and her brother Travis after she began a relationship with an old boyfriend Jonathan Mathis.
His appeal lawyers contended he was mentally impaired on his return from Iraq suffering PTS – Post Traumatic Stress, a condition not fully explained to the jurors.
“John has no memory of the shootings – perhaps it’s his way of blocking it out,” says Gill. “He doesn’t know what the next days holds, the awful moment his execution date could be given to him.”