Skip to Main Content (Press Enter) Toggle side nav
The Death of Innocents by Helen Prejean
Add to bookshelf
Add to Bookshelf
Read An Excerpt

Look Inside

Read An Excerpt

The Death of Innocents

An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions

An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions

By Helen Prejean

By Helen Prejean

By Helen Prejean

By Helen Prejean

Best Seller
Paperback $16.95

Jan 24, 2006 | ISBN 9780679759485

Ebook $11.99

Jan 24, 2006 | ISBN 9780307277022

All Formats
+
    The Death of Innocents by Helen Prejean
    Paperback $16.95
    Jan 24, 2006 | ISBN 9780679759485

    Buy from Other Retailers:

    See All Formats (1) +

    Paperback
    –

    • Paperback $16.95

      Jan 24, 2006 | ISBN 9780679759485

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Ebook
    +

    • Ebook

      Jan 24, 2006 | ISBN 9780307277022

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Buy the Ebook:

    About The Death of Innocents

    From the author of the national bestseller Dead Man Walking comes a brave and fiercely argued new book that tests the moral edge of the debate on capital punishment: What if we’re executing innocent men? Two cases in point are Dobie Gillis Williams, an indigent black man with an IQ of 65, and Joseph Roger O’Dell. Both were convicted of murder on flimsy evidence (O’Dell’s principal accuser was a jailhouse informant who later recanted his testimony). Both were executed in spite of numerous appeals. Sister Helen Prejean watched both of them die.As she recounts these men’s cases and takes us through their terrible last moments, Prejean brilliantly dismantles the legal and religious arguments that have been used to justify the death penalty. Riveting, moving, and ultimately damning, The Death of Innocents is a book we dare not ignore.

    About The Death of Innocents

    From the author of the national bestseller Dead Man Walking comes a brave and fiercely argued new book that tests the moral edge of the debate on capital punishment: What if we’re executing innocent men? Two cases in point are Dobie Gillis Williams, an indigent black man with an IQ of 65, and Joseph Roger O’Dell. Both were convicted of murder on flimsy evidence (O’Dell’s principal accuser was a jailhouse informant who later recanted his testimony). Both were executed in spite of numerous appeals. Sister Helen Prejean watched both of them die.As she recounts these men’s cases and takes us through their terrible last moments, Prejean brilliantly dismantles the legal and religious arguments that have been used to justify the death penalty. Riveting, moving, and ultimately damning, The Death of Innocents is a book we dare not ignore.

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Also by Helen Prejean

    River of Fire
    Dead Man Walking
    See all books by Helen Prejean

    Also by Helen Prejean

    River of Fire
    Dead Man Walking
    See all books by Helen Prejean

    About Helen Prejean

    Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph, is known worldwide for starting a dialogue on the death penalty. After witnessing the electrocution of a condemned man in a Louisiana prison in 1984, Prejean wrote the… More about Helen Prejean

    About Helen Prejean

    Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph, is known worldwide for starting a dialogue on the death penalty. After witnessing the electrocution of a condemned man in a Louisiana prison in 1984, Prejean wrote the… More about Helen Prejean

    Product Details

    Category: Domestic Politics

    Paperback | $16.95
    Published by Vintage
    Jan 24, 2006 | 336 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9780679759485

    Category: Domestic Politics

    Ebook | $11.99
    Published by Vintage
    Jan 24, 2006 | 336 Pages | ISBN 9780307277022

    Inspired by Your Browsing History

    Buy other books like The Death of Innocents

    ‹ ›
    Incarceration Nations
    Incarceration Nations
    Baz Dreisinger
    The Crime of Sheila McGough
    The Crime of Sheila McGough
    Janet Malcolm
    Human Rights Watch World Report 2006
    Human Rights Watch World Report 2006
    Human Rights Watch
    Surviving Justice
    Surviving Justice
    My Fourth Time, We Drowned
    My Fourth Time, We Drowned
    Sally Hayden
    Secret Trials and Executions
    Secret Trials and Executions
    Barbara Olshansky and Center For Constitutional Rights
    My Turn at the Bully Pulpit
    My Turn at the Bully Pulpit
    Greta Van Susteren and Elaine Lafferty
    We Uyghurs Have No Say
    We Uyghurs Have No Say
    Ilham Tohti
    Twelve Cries From Home
    Twelve Cries From Home
    Minoli Salgado
    The Most Dangerous Branch
    The Most Dangerous Branch
    David A. Kaplan
    Missing from the Village
    Missing from the Village
    Justin Ling
    World Report 2012
    World Report 2012
    World Report 2015
    World Report 2015
    Gideon's Promise
    Gideon’s Promise
    Jonathan Rapping
    Between Vengeance and Forgiveness
    Between Vengeance and Forgiveness
    Martha Minow
    The Oath
    The Oath
    Jeffrey Toobin
    Deliberate Indifference
    Deliberate Indifference
    Howard Swindle
    Why We Fight
    Why We Fight
    Christopher Blattman
    Dead Man Walking
    Dead Man Walking
    Helen Prejean
    Carceral Capitalism
    Carceral Capitalism
    Jackie Wang
    World Report 2014
    World Report 2014
    Human Rights Watch
    World Report 2010
    World Report 2010
    Human Rights Watch
    Code of Silence
    Code of Silence
    Lise Olsen
    Remembering Satan
    Remembering Satan
    Lawrence Wright
    A World Apart
    A World Apart
    Cristina Rathbone
    Human Rights Watch World Report 2007
    Human Rights Watch World Report 2007
    Human Rights Watch
    Better Than Sex
    Better Than Sex
    Hunter S. Thompson
    Betrayal
    Betrayal
    Jonathan Karl
    Narcoland
    Narcoland
    Anabel Hernandez
    The Pentagon Papers
    The Pentagon Papers
    Katharine Graham
    A Saint on Death Row
    A Saint on Death Row
    Thomas Cahill
    Algiers, Third World Capital
    Algiers, Third World Capital
    Elaine Mokhtefi

    Praise

    “Luminous, undecorated, angry and very moving. . . . [It] tests our conception of human decency.” –The New York Times Book Review“A work of great persuasive power. It will also, I hope, become a source of outrage.” –Christopher Hitchens, Los Angeles Times Book Review“Impassioned yet thoughtful. . . . Certain to promote reflection. . . . Prejean commands respect.” –The Christian Science Monitor“A stunning work of conscience, told with restrained outrage, a sharp eye for the absurd, and an unshakeable belief in the dignity of all humans.” –The San Diego Union-Tribune

    Looking for More Great Reads?
    21 Books You’ve Been Meaning to Read
    Get the latest updates from Helen Prejean
    And go from well-read to best read with book recs, deals and more in your inbox every week.
    And go from well-read to best read with book recs, deals and more in your inbox every week.
    By clicking SIGN UP, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Penguin Random House’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
    Dismiss
    Thanks!
    Something awesome is on its way.
    Back to Top

    Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

    Raise kids who love to read

    Brightly

    Raise kids who love to read
    Today's Top Books

    Today's Top Books

    Want to know what people are actually reading right now?
    An online magazine for today’s home cook

    TASTE

    An online magazine for today’s home cook