True Crime Book Club

Do you enjoy discovering the stories behind real-life crimes? This is the book club for you. The True Crime Book Club reads and discusses a variety of the true crime genre. Join us this month as we discuss The Innocent Man by John Grisham.

In John Grisham's first work of non-fiction, an exploration of small town justice gone terribly awry, the question of innocence until proven guilty is put to the test.

"In the major league draft of 1971, the first player chosen from the State of Oklahoma was Ron Williamson. When he signed with the Oakland A's, he said goodbye to his hometown of Ada and left to pursue his dreams of big league glory. Six years later he was back, his dreams broken by a bad arm and bad habits—drinking, drugs and women. 

In 1982, a 21-year-old cocktail waitress in Ada named Debra Sue Carter was raped and murdered, and for five years the police could not solve the crime. For reasons that were never clear, they suspected Ron Williamson and his friend Dennis Fritz. The two were finally arrested in 1987 and charged with capital murder. With no physical evidence, the prosecution's case was built on junk science and the testimony of jailhouse snitches and convicts. Dennis Fritz was found guilty and given a life sentence. Ron Williamson was sent to Death Row."