danielle
12-10-2004, 07:02 AM
Man Freed From Okla. Death Row in '99 Dies
By JULIE E. BISBEE
Associated Press Writer
December 09, 2004
Ronald Williamson, a former death row inmate exonerated by DNA evidence five days before his scheduled execution, has died, his sister said Thursday.
Williamson died Saturday at age 51, five years after he was freed from prison and nearly seven weeks after being told he had cirrhosis of the liver, Annette Hudson said.
Williamson, a second-round draft choice for the Oakland Athletics in 1971 and a star high school athlete from Asher, spent six years playing baseball for farm teams of the Oakland A's and New York Yankees, Hudson said.
When arm injuries ended his career, Williamson returned to nearby Ada, where he had a brief marriage and held various sales jobs. He then moved back in with his parents and stopped working, Hudson said.
"From the disappointment of not making it in baseball, he turned to alcohol," Hudson said. "He just started declining."
In late 1982, the body of Deborah Sue Carter, 21, was found in a garage apartment. Williamson was arrested for the murder four years later.
Williamson - diagnosed as suffering from bipolar disorder - told authorities he recalled having a dream in which he pulled a cord around the woman's neck, but he also dreamed he stabbed her. Carter had not been stabbed.
He and another man allegedly linked to the slaying by hairs from the crime scene were convicted in the case. After 12 years, they were freed in April 1999 after DNA evidence proved their innocence; Williamson was just five days away from execution. Their civil lawsuit was settled in 2002 for an undisclosed sum.
Another man who prosecutors used to link Williamson to the crime was ultimately sentenced to death for Carter's murder.
"Ronnie was a complex person," Hudson said. "He was kind and gentle. When he was not on his medication, he was out of control."
After his release from prison, Williamson lived with his sister, unable to live on his own because of his mental problems and alcoholism.
"The only time he had happiness in his life, he told me, was his years playing baseball," Hudson said.
By JULIE E. BISBEE
Associated Press Writer
December 09, 2004
Ronald Williamson, a former death row inmate exonerated by DNA evidence five days before his scheduled execution, has died, his sister said Thursday.
Williamson died Saturday at age 51, five years after he was freed from prison and nearly seven weeks after being told he had cirrhosis of the liver, Annette Hudson said.
Williamson, a second-round draft choice for the Oakland Athletics in 1971 and a star high school athlete from Asher, spent six years playing baseball for farm teams of the Oakland A's and New York Yankees, Hudson said.
When arm injuries ended his career, Williamson returned to nearby Ada, where he had a brief marriage and held various sales jobs. He then moved back in with his parents and stopped working, Hudson said.
"From the disappointment of not making it in baseball, he turned to alcohol," Hudson said. "He just started declining."
In late 1982, the body of Deborah Sue Carter, 21, was found in a garage apartment. Williamson was arrested for the murder four years later.
Williamson - diagnosed as suffering from bipolar disorder - told authorities he recalled having a dream in which he pulled a cord around the woman's neck, but he also dreamed he stabbed her. Carter had not been stabbed.
He and another man allegedly linked to the slaying by hairs from the crime scene were convicted in the case. After 12 years, they were freed in April 1999 after DNA evidence proved their innocence; Williamson was just five days away from execution. Their civil lawsuit was settled in 2002 for an undisclosed sum.
Another man who prosecutors used to link Williamson to the crime was ultimately sentenced to death for Carter's murder.
"Ronnie was a complex person," Hudson said. "He was kind and gentle. When he was not on his medication, he was out of control."
After his release from prison, Williamson lived with his sister, unable to live on his own because of his mental problems and alcoholism.
"The only time he had happiness in his life, he told me, was his years playing baseball," Hudson said.