Did You Know?
Twelve men have been executed in the United States during 2013.
Letters
Letter from Inmate Charles Lorraine of Ohio
Dear Rodney, March 10, 2011, Thursday Hello Rodney. I hope it’s ok if I call you by your first name? You can call me by mine, it’s Chuck. Thank you for your letter & and caring enough to take the time to write. It really means a lot & a good feeling to know not everybody wants to execute me. Thank you for the kind words you wrote in your letter and for speaking to me about God. I used to think God could never love me not for what I did and all the bad things I done in my life out there. But I found out the truth, before it was too late, that God always loved me and he’s just been waiting on me to come to Him for help. He is so forgiving & loving & today I live my life the way He wants me to. But I have to admit even with God in my life I’m still scared of being executed. But I also know what will follow after death and I look forward to the day I can go to heaven. I don’t know how much stuff is on the internet about me & my case but in January 2010, I went back to court & turned down my (Atkins) appeal & asked for an execution date. An (Atkins) appeal is a claim I filed or my attorneys filed, claiming that I was mentally ill & mentally retarded in order to try & stay alive. I filed that claim after my appeals all ran out. If I wouldn’t of filed that I would have been executed years ago. But I ended up going back to court & telling the court the truth that I wasn’t mentally ill and that I filed that to stay alive. I realized I just couldn’t keep lying & doing that & call myself a Christian so after I told the court this, they said to me Charles do you realize by turning down your claim you will receive a execution date & I said yes. So on March 1, I received an execution date for January 18, 2012. Do you think Rodney I did the right thing by being honest & telling the court the truth? I had a son who died in 2007 he was 23 years old he was mentally retarted & one day my daughter said to me, dad how could you claim to be mentally retarted & you know you aren’t. Do you think you are mocking your own son. She was right Rodney in a way she was right. I don’t want to be executed but I shouldn’t have to lie in order to stay alive. Right? I’ve been on death row for almost 26 years and I am very sorry for what I did. I can’t take back what I did, all I can do is try to be a better person now and never allow myself to be the kind of person I use to be again. I’m not gonna blame what I did on drugs or anything. I am guilty and if I can bring peace to the niece of the victims then I gladly give my life. Chuck
Richard Baumhammers - SCI Greene
Dear Rodney,
Greetings from SCI-Greene. Thank you for the Christmas card. I hope all is well with you in No. Everything is fine here.
We have a soft drink sale which is good. Having Pepsi-Max is good. That cold soda is nice.
How are things in NO? I miss all that food. What a great tourist city. Having a tourist guide would be good.
The weather is bad here. I hope for an early Spring. I need to continue jogging. The weather is so bad that I have not been able to jog.
We have a special meal on next Wednesday. We have a turkey sub. Potato chips, ice dream, and cake are the sides.
We have a new radio station on TV. It is classic rock from the 80's. I like all the old rock bands they play.
We need a new menu. the food is so bad now. It is all pastas and breads.
That is all for now. Take care and write back soon. All the best.
Sincerely,
Richard
Richard is a regular writer to TFF.
Ron Champney SCI - Greene
Dear Rodney,
Hey Dude
Thank you for the card, since i have taking up art myself your drawing is just fine. Have Travel Channel on Tv as I write this just so happens show is in New Orleans food. So how you pick me to send a card to. With this mess you all are dealing with down there the Flood then oil mess people out of work out of Home to live. Ya seen it all on news what a mess. All the stuff people threw out cause it got wet, and all them cars, wow I'd been out picking a lot of that stuff could of been saved, Oh not the cars can't resell them after flood (BUT) can sell parts, lagelly. I was once in well close to down town once drove truck had load had to go south where a lot of them Mills are. Used tol live in North Carolina Graham (3) of my Kids still live there. Was Burn in GA. have grand Daughter talking about moving to Tenn. WoW is it cold here got up to -4 now up to about 30. Hey sorry it took me so long to write Your address had me a bit confused, But work it out, so thought I'd write say Thanks for card. I'd love to come down there try your Ribs & or BBQ. Not an not big eater of rice. Races start next month.
So any way Ya all take care OK
Ron Champney
We abbreviated New Orleans, NOLA, on our Christmas card envelopes.
Kevin Marinelli Letter
Dear Rodney Rexrode,
Happy New Year! Thank you for the nice Christmas card. I appreciate you keeping Christ in Christmas. It seems “Santa” and the ghost got the spotlight this year. I didn’t see one movie about Jesus aired on cable TV. Of course TBN and our local cornerstone TV network provided solid Christian celebration.
We know that the only true forgiveness is found in Jesus Christ. I had sought forgiveness from my victim’s family and it didn’t go well. … My point is I know how important forgiveness is. It is impressive that you’re doing outreach when New Orleans is still recovering from Katrina’s effect.
Well, I don’t want to take up to much of your time. I just wanted to say thank you for remembering me during Christmas… Take care and God Bless and keep you!!
w/Love in Christ,
Kevin Marinelli SCI Greene, Pennsylvania
Rashood Simpson Letter
Dear Mr. Rodney Rexrode,
I would like to thank you and everyone from The Forgiveness Foundation for your Holiday wishes. Pray all of you enjoyed your Christmas and I wish you all a Happy New Year. It really meant a lot to receive such kind words. Especially this year. Thanks again ….
Best Wishes,
Rashood Simpson SCI Greene, Pennsylvania
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