Death Row Hail Marys That Actually Worked

The death penalty is a controversial topic in the United States, and many of the people on this list were wrongly convicted. Through last-minute death row stays and the emergence of new evidence, these prisoners narrowly avoided execution. One inmate had already eaten his last meal and was only 90 minutes away from a lethal injection when he got word that he would not be executed.

Guilty or innocent, these prisoners wouldn't go down without a fight. Others didn't get so lucky. Read on for more of these death row success stories and learn how often people come close to execution, even when they aren't proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

In 1935, Nellie May Madison was convicted for the murder of her husband, Eric Madison, and sentenced to death. The Supreme Court upheld the conviction, which was the first time it had ever done so against a woman.

A female reporter thought there was more to the story than simple homicide and worked to gain the public's support for Nellie. It turned out she was right. Eric had been abusive towards Nellie, and she'd once caught him having sex with an underage girl. When Eric's ex-wife was finally interviewed, she told a story of abuse remarkably similar to the one Nellie shared. 

Nellie's sentence was commuted to life in prison shortly before her scheduled execution date, and she was freed altogether nine years later. 

In 1985, Anthony Ray Hinton was convicted of the murder of two fast-food workers based on ballistics evidence that linked a gun owned by his mother to the crime. He was found guilty despite having an alibi for the the time of the murders. 

Years later, the case went before the Supreme Court, and Hinton was granted a retrial. A new ballistics expert was able to prove that the gun owned by Hinton's mother was not connected to the murders after all. Hinton was freed after 30 years on death row.

Jake Bird was convicted for the 1947 ax murder of Bertha Kludt. Though he admitted that he was a murderer, he was adamant that he did not kill Bertha. 

Bird gave the police information about the other murders he had committed so that his execution would be delayed to allow for investigation. His plan, as flawed as it was, actually worked. For a while, that is. He received a total of three last-minute stays of execution before his sentence was finally carried out - four "last meals" later - on July 15, 1949.

Elizabeth Proctor and her husband, John, were both convicted of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. John's execution was carried out as scheduled, but Elizabeth was pregnant at the time of her conviction. The court decided to let her live until after she gave birth.

On January 27, 1693, she gave birth to a son but, for unknown reasons, was not immediately executed. By that Spring, the witchcraft hysteria had died down, and the Governor released all remaining prisoners, including Elizabeth Proctor. 

New evidence saved Derrick Jamison from lethal injection 90 minutes before his scheduled execution. He was convicted of murdering a bar owner in 1984, and he believes that up to 35 pieces of evidence that would have cleared him were suppressed by the Cincinnati Police Department. 

In 2005, the charges against him were dismissed on the grounds that he never received a fair trial due to the actions of the police department and prosecution. He was released from prison 20 years to the day after his death sentence. 

Nick Yarris was convicted of rape and murder in 1981 and sentenced to death. After being arrested for car theft, Yarris made up details about the murder of a young mother that he'd read about in the paper as a way to bargain with police. His plan backfired, however, and he was accused of the murder. 

He spent 23 years on death row before DNA evidence finally cleared him. Despite wrongful imprisonment, Yarris said that death row saved his life because all of his former friends were now dead due to drugs and crime. The Fear of 13, a film about his ordeal, is available on Netflix.

Glenn Ford was convicted of the 1983 murder of a local Shreveport, LA jeweler. The prosecutor, Marty Stroud, quickly zeroed in on Ford despite strong evidence pointing to other suspects. 

Stroud celebrated the conviction at the time, but years later, a police informant revealed that he had gotten a confession from the true killer. Glenn Ford was released after spending 30 years on death row, and Marty Stroud has admitted that he did not fully investigate the case during the trial.

In 1996, Damon A. Thibodeaux falsely confessed to the rape and murder of his fourteen-year-old step-cousin. He was sentenced to death.

Thibodeaux spent 15 years on death row before DNA evidence finally exonerated him. His legal team had pushed for DNA testing with the knowledge that he offered a false confession after a grueling nine-hour interrogation, something that happens surprisingly often in murder cases. This time, however, that push saved a man's life.

Clyde Thompson was convicted of four murders and was involved in several botched prison-escape attempts. While in prison, he even murdered some of his fellow inmates, which earned him the title of "The Meanest Man in Texas."

Two days before he was to be executed, he received word that they would wait to see how the trial of one of his co-conspirators played out. If that man received a death sentence as well, they would go forward with Thompson's execution. He got lucky. The other man avoided the death sentence, so Thompson received life in prison. 

Richard Glossip was granted a stay of execution mere hours before his scheduled lethal injection due to concerns over the drug that was to be used. This was the second time he'd been granted a last-minute stay just hours before he was to be executed. 

In 1997, Justin Sneed murdered motel owner Barry Von Treese and claimed that Glossip told him to do it. Though there was no evidence to confirm this story, Glossip was convicted and sentenced to death.