Sally and Carol's mother, Bernice O'Connor, was 82 years old
when she was raped, beaten, strangled and stabbed to death in her Detroit
home. Sally and Carol do not believe the death penalty would have deterred the
murder because it was a crime of rage. "Killers either act in passion or
they believe they will not be caught," they say. The sisters remember
their mother as "always cheerful and positive, seeing and seeking good in
everything...the kind of person who brought people together, reconciling
differences." Killing her killer, in their view, would desecrate their
mother's memory.
Reprinted with permission from Not In
Our Name: Murder Victims Families Speak Out Against the Death Penalty,
a publication of Murder Victims Families For Reconciliation, Barbara Hood
& Rachel King, Editors; MVFR
Links to Carol’s Journey:
Carol Duncanson Quotes:
"Where the death penalty is an option, the victim's family is apt to be drawn into the spirit of vengeance with the promise that an execution will give them 'justice'. This prolongs their grief and pain through the years of court proceedings. We are grateful that Michigan does not have the death penalty, and did not give us a sentence of prolonged grief or hold out a false promise that an execution would make it all better. Holding on to hate and vengeance will not help us heal.
We are thankful that our mother raised us to believe in forgiveness, because if hatred had been added to our burden of pain, loss, and grief after her brutal murder, it would have destroyed us."
