As White’s testimony began to drag on I actually started to feel better. There was no doubt in my mind that everyone in the courtroom could see through his story. Some of his claims were outrageous to the point of being impossible. According to him I was supposed to have met him in the Parkway City Mall parking lot and had him crouch in the front floorboard while I drove him to my home.
I wanted so bad to jump up and demand how he thought a grown man was supposed to hide in the front floorboard of a car and not expect anyone to see him in broad daylight. I wanted to know how a grown man could even fit in the front floorboard—it’s almost impossible. There were probably thousands of people at the shopping center that day, but yet, the police could not find one person to say they saw me with White!
Though much was made of the money inside the library book and the phone calls, the explanations for them were so simple I wasn’t really worried.
The low point of the trial was about to occur, however.
Basically the prosecution’s entire case centered on the fact that I was supposed to bean evil person, and now they decided to drive the point home. /though they had the names of the men I had been involved with and most of them lived in Huntsville, they chose to bring a man all the way back from California to testify.
He was the black man.
His testimony only lasted for a few minutes and consisted solely of him reluctantly admitting that we had once had a sexual affair.
From the looks on the juror’s faces, though, it was enough. For the first time I had to face the possible reality of being convicted. It was decided I would not take the stand. If I had, the prosecution would have tried to make me look even worse.
Strangely, the whole time we were waiting for the jury to reach a verdict my thoughts were not on the trial. They kept going back to Jack. He was my husband yet I wasn’t even allowed time to grieve over him. We ere not perfect, but we were husband and wife and loved one another. Now he was just a name in a case for the lawyers to argue over.
The jury found me guilty of murder and sentenced me to life without parole.
A few months later my sister, Peggy, was tried on the same charges and with the same evidence and found innocent.
So what happened? I don’t know. Maybe I was an easy person to hate and maybe media ratings were more important than guilt or innocence. I no longer think about the people who did this to me. I have long ago forgiven them.
My freedom has been taken away and memories of my friends and family are fading, but I will go to my grave with the one thing no one can ever take from me – my innocence.
Murder of Dr. Wilson
BettyWilson--My Story Part 1
BettyWilson--My Story Part 2
The Confession of James Dennison White
Poll: Who Plotted to Kill Dr. Jack Wilson?
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