Review: Guilty of Much, Innocent of Murder
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 16, 2011
Joe Burrows had been in trouble with the law, repeatedly, since he was just a kid. His crimes ranged from truancy to burglary.So when 88-year-old William Dulin was found murdered in his Illinois home, it didn't take much to believe that Burrows had been the killer - especially when Gayle Potter swore to police he had done it and she witnessed it.According to Gayle, she owed a $3,000 drug debt and her supplier was wanting to be paid immediately. Said supplier knew her of relationship with Dulin (her mother had been his housekeeper) and suggested she try to borrow it from him. Burrow went with her supposedly as insurance of her return. However, when Dulin denied Gayle's request, according to her, Burrows killed him.And for good measure, she tossed in the name of another man of allegedly assisted in the murder: Ralph Frye, Jr. Frye would strengthen investigators belief in Gayle when Frye confessed to the murders.When Frye later retracted his statement, Burrows' defense attorney believed it was his clients ticket to freedom. But Frye's shocking Courtroom testimony would eventually lead to a death penalty sentence for Burrows.Eight years later, however, Gayle would change her previous statements and claim that she was the one who killed Dulin; whether it was because she was now sober and following the twelve steps or because she was confronted by Burrows' new appeals attorney, with a pretty clear (and provable) theory of how the crime occurred, one may never know.Former staff reporter for The News Gazette Peter Rooney reported on this case in his early journalism days and followed it until its very end - the exoneration of a innocent man.Rooney makes it clear his bookDie Free: A True Story of Murder, Betrayal and Miscarried Justiceisn't an argument against the death penalty, but simply another example of why such an extreme punishment should re-evaluated. His points are made clearly and with merit as he details obvious evidence withholding by an over-aggressive district attorney, threats and intimidation of a borderline mentally challenged man, and the old school thoughts of little women versus big, burly men.There are times it becomes a little redundant (the statements, testimony, and confessions), but I'm not sure how it could have been written without doing so because these things were the entire focus of the book.I'll admit it was also difficult to muster much sympathy for Joe Burrows. While he may have been innocent of murder, he'd been guilty of plenty of other crimes and probably untold scores of things for which he'd never been caught. As a firm believer in Karma, that's how I saw the mess he was in. Just my two cents.If you're looking for an interesting, thought-provoking true crime quick read, considerDie Freeby Peter Rooney.