The Death Penalty: A Public Program of Victimization
Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty is sponsoring “The Death Penalty: A Public Program of Victimization”, on Saturday, June 24, from 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm at the Council of Churches of the Ozarks Headquarters at 627 N Glenstone Avenue in Springfield, Missouri.
The Voices Project, a collection of stories of people who have been victimized by the death penalty in some way, will be presented by KATE SISKA, the coordinator of the project. Kate, a mitigation specialist who works with one of the nation’s most successful death penalty trial attorneys, will be joined by Caryn Saxon and Linda Taylor. Kate’s experience working on death penalty trials and her interviews with jurors who served in capital cases in which the death penalty was sought led her to develop this presentation.
CARYN SAXON teaches in the Criminology and Criminal Justice Program at Missouri State University and was interviewed by the Voices Project because she was a neighbor of Craig Wood, who is accused of the murder of Hailey Owens.
LINDA TAYLOR is a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother from the Kansas City area who was interviewed by the Voices Project as the sister of a murder victim and as the mother of a son who was executed by the State of Missouri in 2014.
DENNIS FLEMING was interviewed by the Voices Project as he lost his sister to murder. As part of his healing, Dennis wrote books about his sister’s life and death and also about her killer’s background, especially his mental health and history of intense abuse.
WANDA BRANDON was interviewed by the Voices Project as sister to a murder victim. Her sister was murdered when Wanda was still a child, and she grew up in the aftermath of the murder and its impact on her family.
This presentation is free and open to the public. An optional luncheon and membership meeting will precede the program at 12:00 noon. Make luncheon reservations by June 19 at rjscpa@gmail.com or call 417-883-6193. Donations requested for the luncheon.
Directions can be found here.
Details about the program can be found here.