Innocent, But Behind Bars
Another man confessed to murder. Why is this retarded man in prison?
Wilson, in another prison one state away, seems incapable of such reflection and is puzzled about what the future holds. He remains free of bitterness or blame. "I don't have no grudges against no cops. They were just doing their job. It's just that this time they made a hell of a mistake," Wilson says. "I made a mistake, but I hold up for my mistake in confessing. Why don't they hold up for their mistake, locking me up for something I didn't do?"
[Photo captions]: THE VICTIMS Pauline Martz was well loved in Aurora, especially by Johnny Wilson, who called her "another grandma to me." Yet he has spent his adulthood in prison for her murder.
THE FAMILY Harsh prison life has wiped away the sweet look of Wilson's senior class photo, yet his letters home to mother Susan Wilson and grandmother Nellie Maples always begin "Dear Sweethearts" and are signed "Johnny Wilson."
THE ACCUSERS Prosecutor Robert George (above) and Sheriff David Tatum remain convinced that Wilson is guilty. To release him, says George, would create "public distrust of the legal system."
THE WITNESSES Melanie Houser (above) saw a man who was not Wilson at Martz's house, which stood on the now empty lot across from the high school track. Lucille Childress backs up Wilson's alibi that he was grocery shopping as fire engines raced to Martz's house.
THE SUPPORTERS Efforts by Dean Rodgers (above, left) and Warren Ormsby to win Wilson's freedom have left bitter divisions among friends and neighbors. Wilson (right) was handcuffed for a 1989 court appearance.
THE INMATE Wilson, prisoner 160230 at the Jefferson City Correctional Center, believes he can go home to Aurora and "pick my life up where I left off." He says he holds "no grudges" against police.
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