Brian Lane - Mind Games with a Serial Killer

Well, I’ve missed mail pick-up tonight. So, I’ll be sure to get this into tomorrow night’s mail. I sure hope the rest of this year is healthy for me. The past two weeks were decidedly bad. For awhile there, I was wishing I was dead. That’s how bad I felt because of the flu.

It’s just after 1:00 A.M. and I need to get some sleep… I plan on going out tomorrow for some yard exercise. It’ll be raining, but I can put up with that easily. Take care. Hope to see you soon.

Hello Brian,

I haven’t been able to get hold of you for awhile now, so I thought I’d try it this way. I hope you get this letter before you come up here, if you’re still planning on it. Things have been rather quiet here. It got really quiet for a couple days when the latest execution took place. In the early morning hours of May 3rd, Keith Danny Williams was executed. This was the guy whom the relatives of his victims pleaded that he not be executed and who was determined to have been mentally incompetent at the time of his crime. There were a lot of people here that were unhappy about that execution—both inmates and officers, A lot of people in here thought his death sentence should have been commuted to life without parole. But, the state had to get their pound of flesh in retaliation for his crimes. Ridiculous!

Brian—about that $50.00 I asked you to send to Jan Kolmetz for me, so he could order me some ribbons? Things have changed slightly. Instead of sending the money to Jan, would you send it to his sister, Margery.

She sent Jan some money and Jan used some of that money to place the ribbon order, so we both could get the ribbons now. Margery is also getting together a quarterly package and Jan wants the money you were going to send to him to go to his sister instead. That way she can use it to help pay for the contents of the package. If you can do that, I’d really appreciate it.

By the way, what do you think of my new typing font? It’s costing me $10.00 (when I get some money, that is). As it stands now, I owe roughly $30.00 for this and that. I got a pair of good tennis shoes to wear, this type-wheel, the ribbon I’m now using and a few other necessities. Luckily, I can take my time paying off my debts because it’s standard belief that no one’s going anywhere for awhile.

Guess who I got a letter from? Tricia Barnaby. She has quit her private business and is now back with the Riverside Public Defender’s Office. She says she’s much happier there and, in the long run, will make more money. She runs into Peasley and Driggs all the time and she says they keep asking if I’m all right. She now works with Floyd Zagorsky a lot and he’s constantly checking to see if she’s heard from me. Of course, she hadn’t. I sent her a card last Christmas and then a letter in answer to hers just last week. She asked a lot of questions about this place and my daily routine. I gave her a glossed over description of what life is like here, but not any great detail. I told her how you made it possible for me to get a tv, headphones and typewriter and that Driggs and Peasley haven’t done a thing for me since I was sentenced. Something that bothers me, is that she says she feels responsible for my whole situation and wishes that she had more control over the outcome. She feels that my defense team, in toto, let me down. She wants the opportunity to help in any way she can to turn things around for me. She also says that while she turned her whole duplicate case file over to Peasley, she’s retained all of her own personal work. She says she looks at it every day and is constantly on the lookout for material and information which can somehow be of aid to me. Since executions have started up again, she’s more concerned than ever about my welfare. She also gave me her direct line at the PD’s office and wants me to call her whenever I can. I haven’t done so as yet. She wants to talk to me about conditions here and if there is anything I need or that she can arrange for me. I’m at a loss at what to do about her. For about the last several months I was in the county jail, I had a hard time talking to her and couldn’t even look her in the eyes. I came to the realization that I had fallen in love with her and couldn’t do anything about it. I can’t even admit my feelings to her. I know that I have to be very careful as to what I say to her both on the phone and in my letters to her. That’s the main reason why I haven’t as yet called her. I did admit, though, that I always catch the sit-com “Home Improvement” because I like the character Jill (Patricia Richardson), and that she reminds me of her. We’ll see how that admission goes across.

Since you haven’t been able to make it up here yet, I decided to send you my answers to that death penalty questionnaire I filled out. You said that you were interested in reading them and possibly might want to include them in the book. Which raises that old question again: What’s the latest news regarding it? I am rather concerned since the deadline has passed again. My mother has voiced her concerns regarding the book, also. So, the question remains: What’s happening?

For your general information, I finally got a steady day and time scheduled for me to use the phone now. Every Sunday at 11:00 am I get to use the phone for one hour. So, plan on my calling every Sunday at 11:00, and 11:30 if you don’t answer the first call.

I was watching a movie today that I found very interesting. Especially the ending monologue by the actress. The name of the movie is “Listen to Me”, starring Kirk Cameron, Jamie Gertz and Roy Scheider. It’s a movie about a debating contest (West coast college vs Harvard) and the events leading up to the debate. Debate topic? Pro and con on the subject of abortion; Roe vs Wade. Rent the movie (I think it’s on cassette) and pay close attention to the closing argument of the debate. The point that grabbed me so hard was Jamie Gertz’s argument on life and death. She points out how important it is to not kill, regardless of the reasons or rationalizations. I think you might find it eye-opening and it would make a great argument for an appeal. If I could get a copy of that closing speech, I could turn it into what I think would be a powerful statement for a call to end the practice of administering a death sentence for any crime, especially one given to wrongly convicted people.

Well, I guess that’s about all for now. Take care and I hope to hear from you soon, either when I call or when you get the chance to come up here for a visit. Until later…

Hello Brian,

How are you doing? I’m well enough now, but things are getting a bit tough here for me. I finally got over that respiratory flu that had me down and I’m still sleeping quite a lot, but I’m able to hold down all of my meals now. For awhile there, I felt like I was about to give up the ghost. Anyway, the sun out on the exercise yard helps a lot, too. I try to make it out there at least twice a week.

I guess you ran into some kind of difficulty again… the reason you still haven’t been able to make it up here as yet for a visit. Sorry I haven’t been trying to call you lately. Our phone lines on the fifth tier are temporarily out of order. The telephone people are rewiring the lines, adding some new features and some new hookups. They started working on the lines last week and the phones have been out since then. Trouble is, there’s no definite date given when we are supposed to get to use the phone again. All of the other tiers still have their phones and can make calls. Their lines aren’t being worked on yet. So, while others get to use the phone, those of us unfortunate enough to be up here on the fifth tier are stuck, unable to call our families or attorneys. Anyway, that’s why I haven’t called and am now resorting to this letter.