When Vicki Schieber’s (pic­tured) daugh­ter, Shannon, was mur­dered in Philadelphia in 1998, she and her fam­i­ly felt enor­mous grief. ​“Losing a loved one to mur­der,” she recent­ly wrote in the Philadelphia Inquirer, ​“is a tragedy of unimag­in­able pro­por­tions. At first, my hus­band and I did­n’t know how we could go on with our lives.” Nevertheless, because of their beliefs, ​“we did not want the man who mur­dered our daugh­ter to be put to death.” Now she is speak­ing out in sup­port of Mamie Norwood, whose hus­band was killed by Terrance Williams, a Pennsylvania death row inmate who is fac­ing exe­cu­tion on October 3. Norwood, like Schieber, oppos­es the killing of the man who caused her loss. She wrote to the gov­er­nor: ​“I wish to see his life spared.” Vicki Schieber’s oppo­si­tion to the death penal­ty was not well received at first: ​“When our pref­er­ence for a sen­tence of life in prison was made pub­lic, many won­dered whether our wish­es should be hon­ored. The dis­trict attor­ney even pub­licly ques­tioned our emo­tion­al health.” She hoped for a bet­ter reac­tion from Philadelphia offi­cials this time for Mrs. Norwood: ​“The gov­er­nor and oth­ers must respect her wish­es for the man who killed her hus­band and allow her to retain the peace she has found.” Read full op-ed below.

A vic­tim’s plea for mer­cy
by Vicki Schieber

Many have come for­ward with con­cerns about the exe­cu­tion of Terrance Williams, which is to take place Oct. 3 unless his sen­tence is com­mut­ed. One objec­tion in par­tic­u­lar should be giv­en great weight: that of Mamie Norwood, the wid­ow of the man Williams killed in 1984.

I know what it means to lose some­one you love to vio­lence. In 1998, my beau­ti­ful daugh­ter, Shannon, was mur­dered in Philadelphia. Shannon was a bril­liant young woman and a stu­dent at the Wharton School. Every year that pass­es is full of reminders of what she might have become if not for an act of bru­tal, senseless violence.

Losing a loved one to mur­der is a tragedy of unimag­in­able pro­por­tions. At first, my hus­band and I did­n’t know how we could go on with our lives. In the years since, work­ing as an advo­cate for oth­ers affect­ed by vio­lent crime, I have learned that this is not unusu­al among vic­tims’ fam­i­lies. Many expe­ri­ence a sim­i­lar cycle of emo­tions, from con­fu­sion and despair to anger and, for the lucky ones, some kind of peace, accep­tance, and abil­i­ty to con­tin­ue liv­ing productive lives.

For my hus­band and me, our life­long Catholic faith was the cor­ner­stone of our abil­i­ty to heal. All Christian faiths are based on humil­i­ty before God and kind­ness to oth­ers. We are com­mand­ed to fol­low the Lord’s Prayer, ask­ing God to ​“for­give us our tres­pass­es as we for­give those who tres­pass against us.” And because of our beliefs, we did not want the man who mur­dered our daugh­ter to be put to death.

Shannon’s mur­der­er was known as the ​“Center City rapist.” In addi­tion to the mur­der of our daugh­ter, he was ulti­mate­ly charged with 13 sex­u­al assaults in Pennsylvania and Colorado.

When our pref­er­ence for a sen­tence of life in prison was made pub­lic, many won­dered whether our wish­es should be hon­ored. The dis­trict attor­ney even pub­licly ques­tioned our emo­tion­al health. This dis­re­spect for a vic­tim’s fam­i­ly was an unex­pect­ed and very painful blow at a time when we were strug­gling to heal from the loss we had suffered.

I pray that Mamie Norwood gets more respect than we did. She is, like us, a per­son of faith. She has sent the state Board of Pardons and Gov. Corbett a state­ment express­ing strong oppo­si­tion to Williams’ execution:

“I was angry and resent­ful towards Mr. Williams for many years,” she wrote. ​“But then sev­er­al years ago I accept­ed that my hus­band’s death at the hands of Terry Williams could not be changed. … I real­ized that I had to find a way to heal and live a hap­py and peace­ful life. I real­ized that the only way I could do that was to for­give Terry Williams for what he did.

“Several years ago, after much prayer and self-reflec­tion, I found the strength and courage to for­give Terry Williams. … I am at peace with my deci­sion to for­give him and have been for many years. I wish to see his life spared.”

Our jus­tice sys­tem exists to ensure the safe­ty of cit­i­zens and to pro­vide some mea­sure of fair­ness for those affect­ed by crime. Terrance Williams is not a threat to the pub­lic if he serves a life sen­tence with­out the pos­si­bil­i­ty of parole.

After pub­lic safe­ty con­cerns, Mamie Norwood’s well-being should be the next pri­or­i­ty. The gov­er­nor and oth­ers must respect her wish­es for the man who killed her hus­band and allow her to retain the peace she has found.

Vicki Schieber serves on the Pennsylvania Advisory Committee on Capital Punishment.

(V. Schieber, ​“A vic­tim’s plea for mer­cy,” Philadelphia Inquirer, op-ed, September 14, 2012). Pennsylvania’s Pardons Board vot­ed 3 – 2 in favor of clemen­cy, but a unan­i­mous rec­om­men­da­tion is need­ed for the gov­er­nor to com­mute Williams’ death sen­tence. Further legal chal­lenges are under way. See Victims. Listen to DPIC’s pod­cast on Victims. See also New Voices.

Citation Guide