Miscellaneous - http://maxpages.com/starfire7s/Kings

Editor's note: Following are the contents of
a hand-written letter from Jasper murder
suspect John William King to Dallas Morning
News reporter Lee Hancock. The letter
accompanied a statement from Mr. King about the
crime he is charged with. The comments about
stamps refer to stamped, self-addressed envelopes
sent to Mr. King to obtain his comments on the
murder case.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Nov. 12, 1998

Dear Ms. Hancock,

I'd like to express my appreciation for the stamps
and envelopes, and ask that you forgive my
negligence in responding. Yes, I can help you;
but first, I'll give you a choice. Which do you want:
A story based on subjective factors that will draw
public attention and generate funds for the Dallas
Dallas Morning Newspaper, or an objective view of
the truth? If your [sic] only interested in the former,
forget about the latter . . .

It is all together against my better judgment to
correspond with the media, and I am more
reluctent [sic] because my effort may be in vain.
However, I am forced into speech because, as you've acknowledged, any information pertaining to myself
and the charges against me that have been released
to the public are a vast anthology of tired stereotypes,
weakly woven together by unrelated tragedies, and
liberally layered with quotes from bias [sic] sources . . .

It is an unfortunate fact that relatively decent men
like myself and Mr. Brewer have little chance at making impression where matters of a highly controversial
nature are concerned, and doubt of the real facts, as I
must reveal them, is inevitable when any information
that would distract from preordained conclusions is
ignored. Instead of a thoughtful, fact-filled investigation,
the public has received a D.A.'s wet dream of racially
motivated excuses and flimsy evidence that adds up
to a catalog of distortion. Armchair and stereotypical
analysis of ex-convicts and tattoos, though silly and unprofessional, is one thing; making sweeping
statements but presenting absolutely no substancial
sic] evidence is irresponsible. With no evidence to
support their assertions, prosecutors, authorities,
as well as the lawyer and friends of [co-defendant]
Shawn Berry have delivered nothing more than gossip,
innuendo and anecdotes with astounding disregard for
the facts. If I continue to suppress what will seem extravagant and incredible there
would be no hope in proving my innocence. . .

Issues pertaining to this case and my confinement can no longer be ignored,
and I would be willing to share and discuss these issues with you Ms. Hancock, under
the ollowing conditions: I respectfully
request that I am provided with any articles
you or the Dallas Morning Newspaper
has [sic] written and published on the investigation into the death of James
Byrd Jr. I ask that you evaluate anything
I share with you in an objective manner;
and that you remain steadfast in your
promise of telling my story fully, fairly and accurately. Furthermore, I hope an
arrangement can be made so we may visit
with one another and share an
indepth discussion on several matters of concern. The conclusions you might draw
depends [sic] on how heavily you weigh purported facts against verified facts . . .

Regardless of your newspaper's nationwide coverage and respect Ms. Hancock,
in the end, I must rely on the judgment and standing of the few men and women who
have, on the one hand, sufficient
independence of thought to weigh data on
it's [sic] own merits; and on the other hand,
sufficient influence from prosecutors and authorities to deter the exploring jury in
general to a rash and overambitious decesion[sic]. With prosecutors burdened
by political correctness in a town and
nation seething with animosity, I am forced
to face the end with a fatalistic calm...

Enclosed you'll find a seven page letter I've written to the public. I believe that as long as there's life, there is always hope Ms. Hancock.
I look forward to visiting with you in the near future; and thank you for your show of
concern . . .

Sincerely,

John W. King

Starfire7s@aol.com

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Page Updated Wed Mar 24, 1999 8:35am EST