As Freddie Eugene Owens lives the last hours of his life,AQCAN Exchange USA TODAY is sharing some of the South Carolina death row inmate's handwritten letters to a woman he loved. At times furious and at others loving and deeply vulnerable, the letters show a man contemplating his life and death.
Owens is set to be executed Friday despite a newly sworn statement from his co-defendant that he wasn't even at the scene of a the convenience store robbery that landed him on death row. Owens was convicted of killing 41-year-old Irene Grainger Graves during a robbery of the store where she worked on Halloween night 1997.
On Wednesday, Owens' co-defendant, Steven Golden, signed a sworn statement saying that Owens didn't shoot Graves and was not even there, according to reporting by the Greenville News, part of the USA TODAY Network. The South Carolina Supreme Court dismissed the sworn statement and is allowing the execution to proceed.
USA TODAY obtained letters that Owens wrote to his then-girlfriend over the span of more than a year back in the 1990s.
In them, we can see a deeply troubled man, scarred by a traumatic childhood and someone who at times threatened the ones he loved in chilling terms and at others showed a more vulnerable side. Here are some of his letters.
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected] and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.
2025-04-30 04:411470 view
2025-04-30 04:39550 view
2025-04-30 03:522217 view
2025-04-30 03:00530 view
2025-04-30 02:39822 view
2025-04-30 02:101165 view
NEW YORK (AP) — Juan Soto will be introduced by the New York Mets at Citi Field on Thursday, a day a
The latest season of "The Bachelor" is kicking off and this time, Joey Graziadei is looking for love
WASHINGTON – After Lisha Quarles’ son was gunned down in front of his church last fall, her 5-year-o
