Seen, Heard and Read

This book is a clear step away from his usual writing. Main reason for that is the fact it is a true story. A sad story about the lack of justice in the small town of Ada, Oklahoma.

A young cocktail waitress gets brutally murdered and raped, the investigation turns up very few good leads, in reality none. This is in the year of 1982, DNA testing has not yet been discovered. The only solid evidence are some hairs found on and around the body, and a bloody palm print on the wall.

After a long time of investigation and hitting the wall a name comes up. Ron Williamson, a has been baseball player that never made it into the major leagues. Booze, drugs and women got the better of him, so now he lives in his old boys room at his mothers place. With him being the odd figure in the society the police quickly decides he’s the guilty one, now they just have to prove it…

Here the dance with injustice starts. Ron is arrested and a laughable trial is held, and he’s found guilty as charged, together with an old friend.

We follow Ron’s struggle to get the truth out, he is innocent, and with the real killer is on the loose no one is really safe.

Ron suffer from serious mental problems, but the justice system ignores this, and he never get a proper treatment. He does have medication, but they aren’t given to him as they should by prisoner guards so he has periods where he really acts like a maniac, shouting all nights long, banging his head against the walls of the cell.

His only hope is that someday the truth will come out. His only support are his sisters. His only help is lawyers given by the state as he has no money of his own.

The book is a documentary, but it doesn’t really feel like that. It is written as a crime story, you just can’t stop until you figure out how it all will end. While reading you can’t believe how the justice system fails to work in this small town.

The meaning of “Innocent until proven guilty” has been lost on the way.