Lori St John, also known as Lori Urs, is an American advocate against wrongful death penalty decisions.[2][3] In addition, she is a certified public accountant and author.
Lori St John | |
|---|---|
| Born | Lori St John March 8, 1956 |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Lori Urs Lori O'Dell Lori Ann St John |
| Education | University of Connecticut (BS) New England School of Law Rutgers Law School[1] |
| Occupation(s) | Anti-death penalty activist lawyer |
| Notable work | The Corruption of Innocence (2013)[1] |
| Spouse(s) | Walter K. Urs 1981-1995 Joseph O'Dell 1997 (6 hours) |
In the early 1990s, St John studied law at the New England School of Law and later at Rutgers School of Law.[1][4]
In the 1990s, she led a determined public relations effort to prevent the execution of convicted murderer Joseph Roger O’Dell. Her public relations campaign in the media drew widespread international support,[5] particularly from the Italian city of Palermo, as well as from Mother Teresa[1] and Pope John Paul II[1] and the Italian and European parliaments,[1] who petitioned unsuccessfully for O'Dell not to be executed.[6] She was an investigator on O'Dell's legal team.[7] She married the convicted murderer hours before his execution, partly in an effort to gain control of evidence.[8] The marriage was officiated by a death row chaplain, with vows exchanged between bars of the cell, and the newlyweds were not permitted to touch for security reasons.[9] Soon thereafter, before being executed by lethal injection on July 23, 1997, O'Dell pledged to love his bride "throughout eternity."[6]
Her efforts pushed for greater use of DNA profiling in capital crimes cases.[8] Her advocacy generated serious interest on the World Wide Web as well as in the nation of Italy,[10] where the 1997 execution of O'Dell was watched by millions of television viewers.[11] According to an account in the Los Angeles Times, O'Dell became the "unofficial martyr of Italy's campaign against capital punishment in the rest of the world."[11] O'Dell was buried in the city of Palermo, Italy, even though he had never visited there.[12][13][14]
In 1998, she was briefly in the news when she helped secure the release of her teenage daughter, who was being held hostage.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f Julie O'Connor, October 13, 2013, Star-Ledger, A Jersey woman's fight for justice: Q&A, Retrieved August 6, 2015, "...Lori St John ... law student at Rutgers University in the 1990s, she desperately fought to save the life of a Virginia man on death row..."
- ^ a b August 3, 1998, The New York Times, Hostage, 14, Is Released After Siege, Retrieved August 6, 2015, "...woman who campaigned against the death penalty and married an inmate on death ... Lori Urs...
- ^ August 03, 1998, Times Wire Reports, Los Angeles Times, Man Surrenders; No One Hurt in Standoff, Retrieved August 6, 2015, "...A man surrendered to end a standoff in which he allegedly held the daughter of the woman he once lived with, an anti-death penalty activist who carried her campaign all the way to the Vatican..."
- ^ Richard L. Wentworth, July 25, 1997, Christian Science Monitor, US Justice And Italian Consciences, Retrieved August 6, 2015, "...Just before he died following a lethal injection, he married anti-death-penalty activist Lori Urs. He will be buried in Palermo, Italy,...
- ^ Richard A. Stack, Potomac Books, Inc., May 27, 2014, Grave Injustice: Unearthing Wrongful Executions, Retrieved August 6, 2015, "..though Urs helped create an international campaign to free O'Dell..."
- ^ a b CNN, July 23, 1997, Virginia inmate executed despite international campaign: Appeals from pope, Mother Teresa fail to save him, Retrieved August 6, 2015, "...wage a public relations campaign in the Italian media that made O'Dell a cause celebre ..."
- ^ Spencer S. Hsu, December 18, 1996, Washington Post, HIGH COURT POSTPONES VA. EXECUTION, Retrieved August 6, 2015, "...VIRGINIA DEATH ROW INMATE JOSEPH R. O'DELL III SAID THAT LORI URS, AN INVESTIGATOR ON HIS LEGAL TEAM...."
- ^ a b Miles Moffeit and Susan Greene, 07/23/2007, Denver Post, Telltale traces -- DNA EVIDENCE: First used in courts in 1987, it can erase lingering doubts about a conviction. In a high-profile Virginia case, prosecutors declined that opportunity, Retrieved August 6, 2015, "...Mother Teresa, the Italian government and Pope John Paul II weighed in, supporting O'Dell's bid...married O'Dell the day of his execution, partly to gain control of the evidence...."
- ^ July 24, 1997, New York Times, Man Executed Despite Protest From the Pope, Retrieved August 6, 2015, "...A death row chaplain officiated as Mr. O'Dell and Ms. Urs exchanged vows through the bars of his cell...."
- ^ July 24, 1997, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, Convicted Killer O'Dell Is Married, Then Executed, Retrieved August 6, 2015, "...Hours after he got married, a death row inmate whose cause was championed by the pope, Mother Teresa and the Italian government was executed ..."
- ^ a b August 17, 1997, RICHARD BOUDREAUX, Los Angeles Times, To Italy, a U.S. Convict Symbolized the Crime of Capital Punishment -- Europe: Executed murderer became unofficial martyr. Case stimulates American death-penalty foes to seek allies abroad., Retrieved August 6, 2015, "...The inscription on his tombstone, covered each day with fresh flowers, reads: "Joseph R. O'Dell III, beloved husband of Lori Urs O'Dell, honorary citizen of Palermo...."
- ^ 1997, la Repubblica (Italian news translated by Google Translate), O 'Dell, THE END OF THE TRIP, Retrieved August 6, 2015, "...Lori Urs O 'Dell ...as befits the wife of a dead hero, because here in Palermo the inmate Joseph O 'Dell executed in Greensville prison..."
- ^ 1998, la Repubblica (Italian news translated by Google Translate), O 'Dell, the curse continues beaten and raped his wife, Retrieved August 6, 2015, "...Remember the woman who wanted to marry, in the death chamber of the prison in Virginia..."
- ^ August 1, 1997, Irish Times, Killer buried in adopted city that worked to save him from US execution, Retrieved August 6, 2015, "...O'Dell's widow, Lori Urs, ... city made him an honorary citizen and O'Dell responded by asking for his body to be buried here...."