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Norman Roche was convicted and hanged in 1925 for the murder of Elsie Cameron on a chicken farm in Essex. He was hanged still protesting his innocence. Even at the time there were doubts as to what had really happened. This short novel is Minette Walters view of what may have been the background. It is 1920 — the First World War has just come to a conclusion, and there is a drastic shortage of men. 25-year-old Elsie is frightened of being left on the shelf. When she lays eyes on Norman in church she quickly decides that he will be her husband. Startled and rather naïve, Norman finds himself agreeing to marry Elsie and moves away to Essex, to start a chicken farm. Their relationship is a doomed one. Elsie is very insecure and disturbed. She sees marrying Norman Thorne as her only chance of happiness and uses every feminine wile to ensure she gets her man. It becomes increasingly obvious, even to Norman, that Elsie has serious mental problems, and he desperately tries to get out of the relationship – especially when he falls in love with Bessie. But would Norman kill to get free from Elsie’s clutches? The police certainly think so, and so does a jury who pronounce him guilty. Much of this gripping story is built around around excerpts of actual letters that were exchanged between Elsie and Norman. This is a novel with much to say about human relations and the social mores of Britain in the 1920s. (117 [fairly short] pages)
Level: Gymnasiet/C-B

When news breaks that a convicted murderer, released from prison, has killed again, or that an innocent person has escaped the death chamber in light of new DNA evidence, arguments about capital punishment inevitably heat up — few controversies continue to stir as much emotion. This book brings together judges, lawyers, prosecutors, and philosophers to debate the death penalty in a spirit of informed discussion. The reasons for or against capital punishment are revealed in clear and thought-provoking detail. Is the death penalty a viable deterrent to future crimes? Does the imposition of lesser penalties, such as life imprisonment, serve justice in the case of the worst offences? Does the legal system discriminate against poor or minority defendants? Is the possibility of executing innocent persons sufficient grounds for abolition? The contributors marshal an impressive array of evidence, both statistical and from their own experiences working on death penalty cases. The book also includes Governor George Ryan's March 2002 speech in which he explained why he had commuted the sentences of all prisoners on Illinois' death row. Editors: Hugo bedau and Paul Cassell. (242 pages)
Level: Library/Depot/Gymnasium (esp. 3rd year)/SRP/SSO

Contents: Introduction; Tinkering with Death (Alex Kozinsk); An Abolitionist's Survey of the Death Penalty in America Today (Hugo Adam Bedau); Why the Death Penalty Is Morally Permissible (Louis P. Pojman); Close to Death: Reflections on Race and Capital Punishment in America (Bryan Stevenson); Truth and Consequences: The Penalty of Death (Joshua K. Marquis); Why the United States Will Join the Rest of the World in Abandoning Capital Punishment (Stephen B. Bright); In Defense of the Death Penalty (Paul G. Cassell); “I Must Act” (George Ryan).

Is capital punishment immoral? Does it violate the US Constitution? Does it violate human rights? Is it fair? Here are the arguments for and gainst. Editor: Christine Watkins. (128 pages)
Level: Mainly Second and Third year Gymnasium

Contents: Introduction; The Death Penalty Violates the Constitution of the United States (Justice John Paul Stevens); The Death Penalty Does Not Violate the U. S. Constitution (Justice Antonin Gregory Scalia); Capital Punishment Is Morally Justified (Casey Carmical); The Death Penalty Deters Murder (Center for Individual Freedom); The Death Penalty Has Not Been Proven to Deter Murder (Jeremy J. Collins); Capital Punishment Should Never Be Considered in Child Rape Cases (Justice Anthony McLeod Kennedy); Capital Punishment Should Be Considered in Certain Child Rape Cases (Justice Samuel Anthony Alito); Legislation Will Help Prevent Racial Bias in Death Penalty Convictions (Desiree Evans); Legislation Will Not Help Prevent Racial Bias in Death Penalty Convictions (Tara Servatius); Physician Participation in Executions Is Unethical (Daniel N. Lerman); Physician Participation in Executions Is Not Unethical (Dudley Sharp); The Death Penalty Violates Human Rights (Amnesty International); The Death Penalty Should Be Decided Only Under a Specific Guideline (Louis Klarevas); Capital Punishment Is Too Expensive to Retain (Richard C. Dieter); Women Are More Often Spared the Death Penalty (Gabrielle Banks); Organizations to Contact; Bibliography; Index.

Table of Contents (PDF)

Aileen Wuornos was executed in Florida, on the 9th of October, 2002 at the age of 46. She was the 10th woman to be sentenced to death in the USA since the death penalty resumed in 1976. Convicted for the murder of six men, in a two month period, Aileen claimed she acted in self defence however the investigation into these claims was poor and she later retracted her statement announcing to the Supreme Court, “I’m one who seriously hates human life and would kill again.” All-too-often female prostitutes have been the victims of male serial killers — the killings of Aileen Wuornos were the inverse of this. She was a child prostitute, fleeing an abusive childhood at the hands of her grandparents, which led straight to a disastrous adulthood of difficult affairs with both men and women. Her metamorphosis from victim to attacker had brutal consequences: a stream of dead men. Following a renewed interest in this woman after the film Monster, this is her story, as told to Christopher Berry-Dee, director of Britain’s Criminology Research Center. (238 pages)
Level: B/Library/Depot/Projects on the penal system