Seeing her there, cuddled up with her crossword puzzle, you’d never guess that 80-year-old retired teacher Ginny Schrappen had a pen pal in a penitentiary, especially one accused of murder.
Twenty-five years ago, a deacon from the church of Schrappen on the outskirts of St. Louis handed him a letter from a prisoner who had written to the diocese in the hope that someone would write to him. That prisoner was Lamar Johnson, a man serving a life sentence in a Missouri prison.
Steve Hartman / On the road
“He was in prison for murder,” Schrappen said. “I’ve already been accused of being naive, and that’s fine. I wasn’t worried. He’s not coming to get me.”
The two struck up a fast friendship and corresponded constantly for the next 20 years. Schrappen says he could tell, from the start, that there was no way Johnson could have committed murder.
Twenty-eight years later, the state of Missouri confirmed his hunch.
After the Midwest Innocence Project got involved and the real killer confessed, Johnson was exonerated and was released from prison at the age of 49.
Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP, Pool
He spent the next few weeks doing all the things he couldn’t do in prison, including traveling to see one of his best friends for the first time.
Johnson went to Schrappen’s house for the first time, where he received him with a warm welcome. She gave him a tour, a box of his favorite cereal and a last letter.
Steve Hartman / On the road
Johnson said the biggest gift, however, is the confidence his friend instilled in him.
“Especially when somebody’s innocent, you want somebody to believe in you. Because when you have people who believe in you and won’t give up on you, it’s going to be harder for you to give up on yourself,” Johnson said. , adding that Schrappen’s belief is what helped him overcome nearly 30 years of injustice.
Now, he said, it inspires him to serve a lifetime of friendship.
To contact On the Road or to send us a story idea, email us: OnTheRoad@cbsnews.com.
Trending news
Steve Hartman
