thedrifter
09-28-07, 07:31 AM
My boys could be back home in months
SANDRA DICK (sdick@edinburghnews.com)
Edinburgh Evening News
SHE has kept a dignified Transatlantic vigil for her two imprisoned sons for more than 20 years, but today Kenny Richey's mother Eileen reveals an astonishing twist in fortunes means both could be back home in Edinburgh in months.
And she tells how Kenny's dream of being released on bail next week while he awaits a dramatic retrial may be dashed - because of the family's struggle to produce a $100,000 bail bond.
Kenny, moved earlier this month to an open prison after 21 years protesting his innocence on Death Row, and his younger brother Tom, a convicted killer who has served a third of his 65-year sentence for murdering a shopkeeper, have both pledged to rebuild their lives in the Capital.
"Tom's case is more complicated than Kenny's," says Eileen, speaking from her third-floor tenement home in Dalry, where she has lived since her sons quit Edinburgh as teenagers for a new life in America.
"He has been fighting for a long time but he is definitely getting out in a few months. He has served his sentence, he'll be free soon. And he wants to come back home."
Legal reforms in the United States have led to long sentences being slashed - opening the door for Tom's early release from Clallam Bay Corrections Centre in Washington State. When he arrives at his mum's flat in the next few months, it will be the first time mother and son have seen each other in more than 20 years.
Meanwhile, in Ohio, Kenny is now adjusting to life in an open prison after two decades languishing under maximum security.
Sent there after being convicted of starting a fire in a block of flats which led to the death of a two-year-old girl, Kenny came within hours of execution by lethal injection 13 times despite always proclaiming his innocence.
His case took a dramatic shift when an appeal court recently upheld the 2005 decision to overturn his conviction - ordering he be freed or face a new trial.
"If they don't go ahead with the retrial within 90 days, then Kenny will be released," says Eileen, 63, of Orwell Terrace.
"We'd all rather there was a retrial - Kenny has always said he is innocent and we'd all prefer it if he walked free having been declared not guilty. If it's the same verdict as before," she adds, "he'd go back to Death Row and I don't know what I'd do then."
Having both her sons home would be an incredible development in a two-decade-long rollercoaster journey which saw both boys quit the city for a new life with their American father, only to end up jailed within months of each other.
And it would mean Eileen's small flat would suddenly become a lively family home once more with Tom, Kenny, his American wife Wendy and, perhaps, even the couple's 21-year-old son Sean and his two young children.
"Kenny is very excited about coming back. He keeps asking about places he remembers," says Eileen. "He was asking about the Palais de Danse, his grandad's old work, Joseph Mann's the lorry firm, and the Baberton Hotel where his mates used to go for a drink.
"I've told him there's not much he'll recognise. He was 18 when he left, but he thinks things are still the same here."
A wall of photographs in her lounge tell their own story: There is a picture of a young, fresh-faced, Kenny, splendid in his US Marines uniform with a small, black and white sixties image of him as a baby cradled in his mum's arms.
Beside it is a poem written on prison notepaper by Kenny. Ode to a Mum, it is an emotional outpouring of a son's love for his mother, including the line: "You are the world's greatest mother in every way, and I will always cherish you until my dying day."
Nearby is a similar picture of Tom in his Marines uniform; alongside is a charming portrait of Eileen's youngest son Steven with his all-American family.
While his brothers languished, he has carved out a comfortable life working in a tractor assembly factory, spending spare weekends visiting Tom and Kenny in jail.
All her sons call and write regularly - when Steven phoned two nights ago it was to tell his mother he was considering putting his family's Ohio home forward as bail. "I've told him not to," says Eileen sadly. "
Steven has worked hard for what he has got. There's no chance of Kenny doing a bunk on bail, but Steven can't risk what he has built up for his family."
She had high hopes for her family's future too, when, just 17 and working as a shopgirl at Parker Stores in Bristo Street, she joined friends on a night out to Kirknewton in 1961 and met James Richey, a young American serviceman.
Within a year, they were married, by the following year Jim had been posted to Holland, where Kenny was born. The young family then moved to America where Eileen struggled to cope with life first in Ohio and then in Birmingham, Alabama.
The family's spell in the Deep South turned out to be particularly traumatic, as divisions between the black and white communities erupted into violence. She was seven months pregnant with Tom when she was caught in a riot - within days she had fled home.
But there would be violence in Edinburgh too - Eileen claims she landed in hospital after rowing with her husband more than once. Son Tom, in a book written from jail supporting Kenny, even suggested that his parents may have turned a blind eye to the young Kenny's misdemeanours, consumed by their own disintegrating marriage.
"Kenny did get into a few scrapes, but nothing serious," says Eileen. "When Jim left, I ended up with three laddies to look after, no money and all his debts. There were heavies coming up to me, demanding money. Jim left on a one-way ticket to America."
Disillusioned with life in Edinburgh, each of her boys made their own decisions to head to America. Kenny first in 1982, followed by Tom and later Steven.
By 1986, Tom, now 40, was behind bars after admitting killing a shop assistant while high on LSD and Kenny had been arrested in connection with the fatal blaze at his ex-girlfriend's home which ended in the tragic death of a neighbour's daughter.
The hardest conversations she ever had were the ones when Kenny would call just an hour away from execution to say what could have been his final farewells.
"He would always be optimistic, he'd say not to worry, that the appeal might come through in time," she remembers. "Thank goodness that they did."
Now, finally, the end seems to be in sight. And Eileen is already worrying about how she will be able to provide space for her two sons - and possibly Kenny's family. "I don't even know where I'm going to put them," she grins. "It's been a lot to live with for 20 years, there have been days when I've struggled to get through without bursting into tears.
"Now I can't believe that, at last, it might be coming to an end."
BROTHERS BEHIND BARS
KENNY RICHEY was 18 when he left Edinburgh and four years later was blamed for a fire at flats where his ex-partner Candy Barchet, lived.
The flames claimed the life of a neighbour, two-year-old Cynthia Collins. Kenny was convicted of murder and arson and sentenced to death. He is now in an open prison awaiting a retrial and if cleared would be in line for a huge compensation payment.
Meanwhile, his brother Tom was sentenced to 65 years in 1986 after killing a shop assistant during a robbery. However, he is expected to be released within months.
Ellie
SANDRA DICK (sdick@edinburghnews.com)
Edinburgh Evening News
SHE has kept a dignified Transatlantic vigil for her two imprisoned sons for more than 20 years, but today Kenny Richey's mother Eileen reveals an astonishing twist in fortunes means both could be back home in Edinburgh in months.
And she tells how Kenny's dream of being released on bail next week while he awaits a dramatic retrial may be dashed - because of the family's struggle to produce a $100,000 bail bond.
Kenny, moved earlier this month to an open prison after 21 years protesting his innocence on Death Row, and his younger brother Tom, a convicted killer who has served a third of his 65-year sentence for murdering a shopkeeper, have both pledged to rebuild their lives in the Capital.
"Tom's case is more complicated than Kenny's," says Eileen, speaking from her third-floor tenement home in Dalry, where she has lived since her sons quit Edinburgh as teenagers for a new life in America.
"He has been fighting for a long time but he is definitely getting out in a few months. He has served his sentence, he'll be free soon. And he wants to come back home."
Legal reforms in the United States have led to long sentences being slashed - opening the door for Tom's early release from Clallam Bay Corrections Centre in Washington State. When he arrives at his mum's flat in the next few months, it will be the first time mother and son have seen each other in more than 20 years.
Meanwhile, in Ohio, Kenny is now adjusting to life in an open prison after two decades languishing under maximum security.
Sent there after being convicted of starting a fire in a block of flats which led to the death of a two-year-old girl, Kenny came within hours of execution by lethal injection 13 times despite always proclaiming his innocence.
His case took a dramatic shift when an appeal court recently upheld the 2005 decision to overturn his conviction - ordering he be freed or face a new trial.
"If they don't go ahead with the retrial within 90 days, then Kenny will be released," says Eileen, 63, of Orwell Terrace.
"We'd all rather there was a retrial - Kenny has always said he is innocent and we'd all prefer it if he walked free having been declared not guilty. If it's the same verdict as before," she adds, "he'd go back to Death Row and I don't know what I'd do then."
Having both her sons home would be an incredible development in a two-decade-long rollercoaster journey which saw both boys quit the city for a new life with their American father, only to end up jailed within months of each other.
And it would mean Eileen's small flat would suddenly become a lively family home once more with Tom, Kenny, his American wife Wendy and, perhaps, even the couple's 21-year-old son Sean and his two young children.
"Kenny is very excited about coming back. He keeps asking about places he remembers," says Eileen. "He was asking about the Palais de Danse, his grandad's old work, Joseph Mann's the lorry firm, and the Baberton Hotel where his mates used to go for a drink.
"I've told him there's not much he'll recognise. He was 18 when he left, but he thinks things are still the same here."
A wall of photographs in her lounge tell their own story: There is a picture of a young, fresh-faced, Kenny, splendid in his US Marines uniform with a small, black and white sixties image of him as a baby cradled in his mum's arms.
Beside it is a poem written on prison notepaper by Kenny. Ode to a Mum, it is an emotional outpouring of a son's love for his mother, including the line: "You are the world's greatest mother in every way, and I will always cherish you until my dying day."
Nearby is a similar picture of Tom in his Marines uniform; alongside is a charming portrait of Eileen's youngest son Steven with his all-American family.
While his brothers languished, he has carved out a comfortable life working in a tractor assembly factory, spending spare weekends visiting Tom and Kenny in jail.
All her sons call and write regularly - when Steven phoned two nights ago it was to tell his mother he was considering putting his family's Ohio home forward as bail. "I've told him not to," says Eileen sadly. "
Steven has worked hard for what he has got. There's no chance of Kenny doing a bunk on bail, but Steven can't risk what he has built up for his family."
She had high hopes for her family's future too, when, just 17 and working as a shopgirl at Parker Stores in Bristo Street, she joined friends on a night out to Kirknewton in 1961 and met James Richey, a young American serviceman.
Within a year, they were married, by the following year Jim had been posted to Holland, where Kenny was born. The young family then moved to America where Eileen struggled to cope with life first in Ohio and then in Birmingham, Alabama.
The family's spell in the Deep South turned out to be particularly traumatic, as divisions between the black and white communities erupted into violence. She was seven months pregnant with Tom when she was caught in a riot - within days she had fled home.
But there would be violence in Edinburgh too - Eileen claims she landed in hospital after rowing with her husband more than once. Son Tom, in a book written from jail supporting Kenny, even suggested that his parents may have turned a blind eye to the young Kenny's misdemeanours, consumed by their own disintegrating marriage.
"Kenny did get into a few scrapes, but nothing serious," says Eileen. "When Jim left, I ended up with three laddies to look after, no money and all his debts. There were heavies coming up to me, demanding money. Jim left on a one-way ticket to America."
Disillusioned with life in Edinburgh, each of her boys made their own decisions to head to America. Kenny first in 1982, followed by Tom and later Steven.
By 1986, Tom, now 40, was behind bars after admitting killing a shop assistant while high on LSD and Kenny had been arrested in connection with the fatal blaze at his ex-girlfriend's home which ended in the tragic death of a neighbour's daughter.
The hardest conversations she ever had were the ones when Kenny would call just an hour away from execution to say what could have been his final farewells.
"He would always be optimistic, he'd say not to worry, that the appeal might come through in time," she remembers. "Thank goodness that they did."
Now, finally, the end seems to be in sight. And Eileen is already worrying about how she will be able to provide space for her two sons - and possibly Kenny's family. "I don't even know where I'm going to put them," she grins. "It's been a lot to live with for 20 years, there have been days when I've struggled to get through without bursting into tears.
"Now I can't believe that, at last, it might be coming to an end."
BROTHERS BEHIND BARS
KENNY RICHEY was 18 when he left Edinburgh and four years later was blamed for a fire at flats where his ex-partner Candy Barchet, lived.
The flames claimed the life of a neighbour, two-year-old Cynthia Collins. Kenny was convicted of murder and arson and sentenced to death. He is now in an open prison awaiting a retrial and if cleared would be in line for a huge compensation payment.
Meanwhile, his brother Tom was sentenced to 65 years in 1986 after killing a shop assistant during a robbery. However, he is expected to be released within months.
Ellie