GARY GAUGER

Gary and his wife Sue

JOURNEY OF HOPE...
from violence to healing™

“Since my arrest and wrongful conviction for the death of my parents, I’ve given the death penalty considerable thought.  Death for death is an escalation and continuation of society’s murderous domination of the weak and disenfranchised.  If we desire to transcend our murderous past and grow as enlightened and loving beings that we have the potential to be, we must demonstrate forgiveness and compassion to all our members, and recognize that we are all fundamentally one.  How one member of society treats another affects everyone.  Let us break the chain of violence.”

Gary Gauger

Richmond, Illinois

PROFILE:

Gary Gauger was sent to Death Row in Illinois for the murder of his elderly parents, Ruth and Morris Gauger, in 1993.  Thanks to the hard work of those who believed in his innocence, he was ultimately released and exonerated, and two other men were arrested for the crime.  Gary’s sister, Ginger, recalls the enormous stress of his time on Death Row: “I’d dread getting up in the morning and facing a new day,” she says, “but I had to because the clock on Gary’s death sentence was ticking.  The government was planning the killing of my twin brother in as cold and methodical a manner as Schneider and Miller planned the killing of parents.”

FAVORITE JOURNEY WEB SITES FOR GARY:

DEATH AND DNA  -- BY MONA CHAREN

DEATH ROW DISCUSSION RAISES EYEBROW  -- BY VALERIE SIVICEK  -- DAILY ILLINI

RIGHTING WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS:  Law and journalism professors and students fight to free the innocent on death row.  

BY LAURIE AUCOIN

"HOW MUCH JUSTICE CAN YOU AFFORD?"

ILLINOIS EXONERATIONS SPARK CAPITAL-PUNISHMENT DEBATE  BY FRANK GREEN  -- RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH

GARY GAUGER LOST HIS PARENTS AND HIS INNOCENCE:  MACARTHUR JUSTICE CENTER

THEATER:  Life After Death Row:  Two actors traveled the country to meet people wrongly convicted.  By HUGH HART

CRIME, COMPASSION, AND CITIZENSHIP:  A CRITICAL LOOK AT CAPITAL PUNISHMENT:  OFF AND ON DEATH ROW