The last hours of a death row prisoner: he offered his dinner to the homeless and apologized for the terrible murder of his wife 35 years ago

Donnie Johnson, 68, was sentenced to death for the murder of his wife Connie Johnson in Memphis. He killed her shortly before Christmas 1984 in the stuffy with a garbage bag who had his throat when he was 30 and he 33. This Thursday, he will die by lethal injection.

Inmates in Tennessee can spend up to $ 20 for a last meal before being executed, Donnie got rid of this last special meal and donated his vegetarian pizza to the homeless.

He is on the verge of death by lethal injection Thursday afternoon at the Riverbend Maxiumum Security Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

In prison Jhonson became very religious and became a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, so in recent weeks, religious leaders, including the president of this cult, they asked the governor of Tennessee, Bill Lee, who granted clemency to Johnson in your case.

The members of this church supported Jhonson from the outside and claimed that the prisoner had undergone a religious conversion. In recent years, he has dedicated himself to preaching and spiritual help to other prisoners. Fox 17.

However, Lee refused forgiveness on Tuesday for Johnson and let his death by lethal injection continue.

Johnson's legal team had apologized to the state, alleging that he had changed his life: "liar, cheater, crook and murderer", into a former inspirational of the Adventist Church the seventh day that had helped a lot of people. people in prison.

Johnson's daughter-in-law, Cynthia Vaughn, daughter of Connie Johnson from a previous marriage, was among the people who asked her to Governor Bill Lee to give him clemency.

But Jhon and Connie's biological son, Jason, thought his father had been executed long ago.

The story of grief and brutal crime

After high school, Connie Johnson is married. Her first husband left her while she was pregnant with Cynthia. She then studied medical terminology at a community college in Desoto County, where she juggled with work, studied, and was a mother., says Connie's sister named Davis to Commercial call.

"Connie was a good woman, a mother concerned about the well-being of her children, Jason (Donnie and Connie's son) was only four years old when he killed her. This man destroyed our lives, nothing was the same in our family since he took us outsaid Davis.

Connie had worked in a medical practice in Memphis and had met Donnie Johnson. Later they got married and they had their son Jason.

In 1984, Donnie Johnson worked at a camping supply store in Memphis.

Connie Johnson also worked there until about 18 months before her death, since she's decided to stop working because her daughter was going to start school, according to The Tennessean.

The day of his murder, Connie she was shopping for Christmas with her sister Davis and her mother, she bought a jacket, a gift for her husband Donnie.

He quoted his wife at his workplace and 15 minutes after being found alone in an office. Connie had died, said his colleague and accomplice Ronnie McCoy.

Johnson had planned to kill his wife at his own workplace. A Shelby County medical examiner stated that He had cuts and bruises on his head and he had bled inside. His body also showed signs of struggleHe tried to defend himself when Johnson killed him.

According to the badyzes, she would have been conscious during the test and that from one to four minutes He would have pbaded before his expiration.

William Harbison, a judge of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, wrote an opinion after the conviction for murder: "The murder was inhuman and brutal to an almost indescribable degree ".

Donnie Johnson's colleague, Ronnie, a former inmate serving his probation, helped him carry Connie's body in his truck., which they left on the parking lot of a shopping center.

Donnie Johnson had talked about divorcing her before her death, according to witnesses who testified at the trial. They also claimed that Donnie had already divorced and could not afford another.

The police who investigated the murder also felt that there were signs that Connie Johnson was going to leave her husband, the TennesseanHowever, he still wanted to fight to support his family.

Johnson admitted to having previously unfaithful Connie, although he denied having been involved with another woman at the time of his death of his wife. More than a year before her death, Connie Johnson had taken out a life insurance policy and appointed Donnie as the primary beneficiary and her sister as a subsidiary beneficiary.

After his death, his sister and Johnson claimed the proceeds of the $ 50,000 policy.

The transformation of a "monster"

In an interview with WKRN in 2006 since his prison, Johnson said: "I I have developed a personal relationship with the Lord (God) that transcends all that words can really express. But now I have peace because of this relationship that allows me to deal with everything that I have to deal with here. "

Although he initially denied the murder and claimed that his colleague and former detainee had killed his wife alone, Johnson re-examined and accepted the blame.; In a statement released Wednesday by his lawyer, he stated that he was "not a man but a monster".

For all this and the pain that I have caused. Specially: my son Jason, my daughter Cindy and Connie's family, I would humbly ask for your forgiveness for the pain I have caused and for so many others in my life.

However, the words do not seem to be enough. I really regret my life and what I became in the process. I continue and will continue to bear the pain of all that I have caused to othersthat i like

Thanks to the person I am now and in whom I became, I realized that he was not a man but a monster. I was determined not to accept it and I was looking for the Lord because I was at the bottom of a precipice and the only way I had was to join him.

I remember what I had learned and heard in the church, that the only possibility left to me was to transmit it to the Lord and that I was looking for it sincerely. I still do it every day and I will do it until I find my last breath here on this earth.

This is the life I chose that led me to the darkest day I have ever known and it was not until I took responsibility for the death of my wife Connie could receive forgiveness and start on the path of healing.

The Lord in his mercy has forgiven me and all I can do is pray for you to find it in your heart to forgive me too, because there is no way to repair or take back the person who converted me, and not a day goes by without my having the pain of experiencing the pain that I have caused in so many others.

Because as long as I live, I will carry with me the weight of what I have done and the pain that I have caused to others, and I will continue to pray that the Lord will make me a better person, so that I can share a little hope and share the love of the Lord who has me. been shown.

Please forgive me and ask the Lord to help them, comfort and alleviate the pain they have suffered, that I have caused and that I accept to be responsible. I am really sorry and If he knew anything that he could do to relieve his pain, he would do it with pleasure. In Christ, love, may the Lord give you peace.
Don Johnson