NEW JERSEYANS FOR A DEATH PENALTY MORATORIUM            23 Crane Fly Circle , Cape May, NJ 08204                                                  800-257-6204 * www.njmoratorium.org

 

January 16, 2004

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

CONTACT: Nancy Peters - 201-267-5300 (Days) or

                       Celeste Fitzgerald 973-635-6396 (Day/Evening)

 

FORMER DEATH ROW INMATE AND A MURDER VICTIM’S FATHER TO SPEAK

 

            An innocent man, who was sentenced to death for murder and exonerated 10 years later, and the  father of a murder victim will speak about their experiences at A Program on the Death Penalty February 17 at St. Thomas More Church in Convent Station.

            Ray Krone was the 100th innocent American nearly put to death. Krone, of York, PA, spent 10 years in an Arizona prison waiting to die, until a DNA test exonerated him and he was freed in April, 2002. Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1977, 888 Americans have  been executed.  In the same time period, at least 112 death row inmates were found to be innocent and set free.

            Lorry Post, of Cape May, NJ, is disturbed by disparities in sentencing, i.e. that some killers are given prison sentences and others are sentenced to death for the same crime.  Post’s daughter Lisa, the mother of a small child, was savagely murdered by her husband, who was given a 20-year sentence.  Coordinator of  New Jersey Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation, he was formerly executive director of New Jerseyans for a Death Penalty Moratorium.

            Capital Punishment was spotlighted recently, when Governor James E. McGreevey stunned statewide supporters and legislators by vetoing a bill to study New Jersey’s death penalty system. The state’s first execution in 41 years is expected to take place here in 2004. The study bill had passed the legislature easily by a vote of 104 - 8.

            The February 17 program is sponsored by the church and the Knights of Columbus John H. Feenan 7537 Council. It begins at 7:30 P.M. and is free and open to the public.  St. Thomas More Church is on Madison Avenue, across from the Madison Hotel.

            For information, call Nancy Peters: 201-267-5300.