Categories: Opinion and Editorial

The Real Michael James Perry

About 4 or 5 months ago I came across this website called “savemichaelperry.info” and it peaked my curiosity. Now I’m not one who goes around looking for prison pen pals but after reading Michael’s case I just had to find out more. Michael Perry was convicted (wrongly in my opinion) of the capital murder of Sandra Stotler in 1999 and was sentenced to death. He has been at the Polunski unit in Livingston, Texas for almost 7 years awaiting execution. I wrote Michael a letter not thinking I would get a response and to my surprise I did.

The first thing that Michael did was set up his boundaries which I thought was odd at first but made sense later. He made it very clear that , yes, he wanted friends,but more importantly, he wanted supporters. He needs to raise money for his defense. One thing you need to know about him is that he is brutally honest to the point of being offensive. He came right out and asked me if I was gay ( I’m not ) and explained that he was in a relationship with a girl that he hoped to marry and was very happy. Now here’s a guy wanting to raise money but he is going to do it on his terms and not anyone else’s. He even made it a point to tell me that he doesn’t “slut” himself out for money. I don’t mean to make him sound stubborn, just determined.

When you first get a letter from him, you will notice that you’re corresponding with a very intelligent young man. I even commented on how well his vocabulary is. He, of course, disagreed. The second thing that you’ll notice is that he has a great sense of humor. While he likes to talk about himself he is not a self centered person. Most of the time he is picking on himself. He once told me why he types his letters instead of hand writing them and he explained that “I write like I talk, I talk fast and it usually comes out bad.

I told you that Michael’s boundaries seemed odd to me but as I got to know him better, I realized that he trusts almost no one. If you read his bio, you’ll see he’s had one hell of a life so far and this murder conviction was just the icing on the cake. He has slowly opened up to me in the last few months and I’ve gotten to know him better than most. I feel privileged to have gained his trust. Since then, I have seen a person who is terrified he will be killed for a crime he didn’t commit. I see a person who, while he is a man , has a lot of ‘little boy” left in him and I mean that in a good way. He can be mischievous, imaginative, and down right silly at times.

Michael has a beautiful spirit and a caring soul. While this man sits on death row he still worries about my health and how I’m doing. He worries about his other friends and supporters as well (Emily, TAZ and Kris to name a few). This is the kind of person Michael Perry is and I am very proud to call him my friend and my little brother. I pray for him every night and I know in my heart he will one day walk out of prison a free man. The most important thing you need to know about Michael Perry is that he is no killer and I don’t believe he has a violent bone in his body. Some may disagree with me but they don’t know him like I do.