BROOKE KENNEDY- MARKS
Born in Philadelphia PA.
Graduated from Hallahan Catholic High School for Girls.Philadelphia PA.
B,A,- Administration Of Justice/Trial Advocacy/Pre Law- Lasalle University
J.D.- Middleton School of Law, Bayside,PA.
Speaks Spanish/French and Russian fluently.
Passed the Bar in Virginia/Maryland/ Pennsylvania/New Jersey/New York/ Deleware
Law Clerk for Pennsylvania's Chief Judge of Appeals, Carter Baum
Trial Attorney for U.S. Department of Justice's Anti- Trust Division, Washington D.C.
Married to Attorney Sean Marks, A Trial Attorney for The U.S. Department of Justice, Anti Trust Division. Washington D.C..
DIVORCED after two years. No Children.
Public Defender's Office-Philadelphia
Assistant District Attorney- Philadelphia District Attorney's office.
Married to U.S. Attorney Sean Marks
Staff Attorney-WRONGFUL CONVICTION UNIT
NATALIE JEAN TENNISON-CHARLES
Born in Philadelphia PA.
Graduated from The Philadelphia High School for Girls,Philadelphia PA.
B.A.- Trial Advocacy/ Pre Law/Administration of Justice - Temple University
JD-Georgetown University Law Center
Passed the Bar in Virginia/Maryland/Pennsylvania/New Jersey/Deleware / New York
Associate Litigation Attorney at Akin/Gerard/ Jordan/Hester & Field
Public Defender's Office- Philadelphia
Assistant District Attorney-Philadelphia
Staff Attorney - WRONGFUL CONVICTION UNIT
Married to David Charles.
DAVID KEITH CHARLES
Born in Philadelphia Pa.
Graduated from Simon Gratz High School, Philadelphia PA.
BA-Administration of Justice, Trial Advocacy, Pre-Law- Temple University.
JD- Temple University Beasley School of Law
Passed the Bar in Pennsylvania/New York/Deleware/New Jersey
Speaks Spanish And French Fluently..
Public Defender- Philadelphia PA.
Assistant District Attorney-Philadelphia District Attorneys Office.
Staff Attorney -WRONGFUL CONVICTION UNIT
MARRIED TO NATALIE CHARLES.
KAREN ALEXANDRIA PAGE
Born in Philadelphia PA.
Moved with her parents to Narberth, PA.
Graduated from Lower Merrion High School.
BA-Administration of Justice, Trial Advocacy, Pre-Law-University Of Pennsylvania.
JD-University of Pennsylvania School of Law
Passed the bar in Pennsylvania/New Jersey/Deleware/New York /California
Associate Attorney -McCluskey/Cozen/Connor and Pratt
Married Civil Rights Attorney Lloyd Cantrell, Moved to San Francisco, where she worked as an assistant Attorney for Lloyd Cantrell's practice.
Lloyd Cantrell murdered and she returned to Philadelphia PA.
Assistant District Attorney- Philadelphia D.A.'s Office.
Now Supervisor- Wrongful Conviction/Conviction Integrity Unit
Married to Attorney /Podcaster/Talk Show Host- B.L. Benz.
SEAN MARKS-
Born in Philadelphia PA.
Graduated from Northeastern High School.
B,A,- Administration Of Justice/Trial Advocacy/Pre Law- Villanova University
J.D.- Georgetown University Law Center
Speaks Spanish/French and Russian fluently.
Passed the Bar in Virginia/ Washington D.C./ Pennsylvania/New Jersey/New York/ Deleware
Law Clerk for Pennsylvania's Chief Judge of Appeals, Carter Baum
Trial Attorney for U.S. Department of Justice's Anti- Trust Division, Washington D.C.
Married to Attorney Brooke Kennedy, A Trial Attorney for The U.S. Department of Justice, Anti Trust Division.
DIVORCED after two years. No Children.
Federal Public Defender- U.S. Courthouse- Philadelphia PA.
Married to Attorney Brooke Kennedy again
VIRGINIA ELISE SHAW-
Born in Chicago .Illinois
Educated in Chicago Public Schools
B.A. -Trial Advocacy/ Pre Law/Administration of Justice/-Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
J.D.- Northwestern School of Law, Evanston, Illinois
Passed the Bar in Illinois/ Ohio/Pennsylvania/New Jersey/New York/Deleware
Speaks Spanish and French Fluently
Chicago Public Defenders Office
Assistant District Attorney-Chicago
Personal Attorney for Mr. Henry Lott Sr. in Chicago and New York City
(Moved with him to Philadelphia.)
Philadelphia Public Defenders Office
Assistant District Attorney- Philadelphia
Married to U.S. Attorney, now Judge Stephen White, Divorced
Associate Attorney- Bach and Roach
Associate Attorney- Smith and Cohen
Associate Attorney- The Harris Group
Personal Attorney for Mr. Henry Lott Sr. full time
Convicted of Second Degree Murder, Conspiracy to commit murder
Disbarred
Life sentence, Paroled after 7 years.
Office Manager , McCluskey/Cozen/Connor & Pratt, Supervisor-Yvette Jones-Lockwood, Managing Partner.
Married to Judge Jefferson T. Dukes
THE OFFICE OF WARDEN ALFRED TANNER, Warden of Phoenixville Correctional Institution
We had arrived at the Prison...
They offered us Breakfast...Surprisingly, none of us felt like eating... We chose coffee..
Our coffees arrived.
"This is surprisingly good coffee.." said Sean...
"Yes it is." said Brooke.
"YESSSS! NOT WHAT I WAS EXPECTING!" said Natalie..
"It's because we are guests...The Inmates don't get this kind of coffee.." I said.
"David is right about that." said Virginia.
II-
Darlene Betts sat alone in her cell thinking.... Thinking about her life...Her abusive Step-Father who entered her room late at night from the time she was 14 until she was 18... Her mother who didn't believe her until it was too late...She was pregnant with his baby....The quick abortion, the dropping out of school..The living on the street for a year until she joined the Job Corps and had a nice comfortable room to sleep in...
Daryl Stephens, her first true love....or so she thought.... Cindy! Cindy Hayes, who she caught sleeping with Daryl... It through her into a murderous rage....
She put a knife to Daryl's throat and forced him to call her , telling her to bring a blanket and to meet him in the park...
When she got there...Daryl wasn't there, but she was ...with a machete! and she cut her head off...
Veteran Homicide Detectives called it the most brutal murder they had even seen..
Her case captivated the city....
She didn't like them at first...They represented the State, The System....Then near the end, She realized they were trying to save her life...
It was too late now, much too late to ponder.. She was on Death Row.
She no longer held any ill feelings toward the two of them....They had tried to help her , she realized..
Then there was that sleazy ,slick talking lawyer her mother hired for her... Mike Zelensky...always feeling her boobs, rubbing his grubby little hands up her skirts and feeling her legs and one time
yanking on the waistband of her panties.... She despised him..
He talked her into going to trial...Where he did a piss poor job and she was convicted anyway of First Degree Murder.
He swore he'd appeal, but she never heard from him again...and she was sentenced to death....She was 18 years old, The youngest person on Pennsylvania's Death Row and now, the only woman...The only other woman, a former police officer who murdered an ADA had already been executed...
She fell in love with another man, a guard who she let come inside her cell at night when the lights were out and it was quiet....
She thought she loved him...but she found out he was keeping time with another inmate in isolation... She wasn't a death row inmate, but a snitch...a witness to another crime..
She tried to strangle her...almost killed her...She wound up on trial again for attempted murder and was convicted and sentenced to 25 years...What did it matter? She had a Death Sentence.!
For that she was locked up 22 hours a day, away from any contact at all with other inmates...
She was 30 now....Hopefully a little wiser...Still condemned to die... She thought of him.
She was 30 now....Hopefully a little wiser...Still condemned to die... She thought of him.
He was the only male guard to watch over her in isolation. He was Rufus McCain.. A Black Guard who had transferred to Dolly Madison after working at Greene.. He like her was from Philadelphia. He sat outside her cell and they would talk , sometimes all night until it was time for him to go home, change shifts..
He put a little money on her books and purchased the Make up and hair products she liked.. Fixing her hair and putting on Make up and lipstick was the only things that made life somewhat bearable...Even though there was no one to see her.
Her last night at Dolly Madison Correctional Center...She let him enter her cell after dark...
It was dark, quiet....They didn't speak...
He kissed her....She hadn't been held by a man, kissed by a man in several years......
He held her and kissed her....She felt things she hadn't felt in a long while...
He kissed her slowly, softly, passionately...
"Ohhhhhhhh myyyyyyyyyyyy...Ouuuuuu you are very forward.....and very erect.....OUUUUUUUUU!" she said..Her legs shaking...She hadn't been held , kissed by a man in over three years....She found herself aroused beyond compare....She unzippered his trousers and softly caressed his engorged and erect penis...
"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU...OHHHHHH MYYYYYYYYY...UMMMMMMM! OH OFFICER McCain!!! YOU ARE A BIG BOY...OUUUUUUUUU" she moaned...
"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW I'VE BEEN WANTING TO DO IT TO YOU FOR A LONGGG TIME!!" he moaned..sweating bullets...
"OH MYYYYYYY! HAVE YOU?" she said.
"YESSSSSSSS!" he moaned..
He laid her across her bed, spread her legs and slowly entered her...
"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU...OHHHHHHHHH MY WORRRRRRD!" she moaned...
"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM...PUT IT IN...PUT IT ALL IN...OUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed.
"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW SWEEET BABYYYYYY! UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!" he moaned...
"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUU IT FEELS GOOD...IT FEELS GOOOD! IT FEEEELS GOOOOOD!" she cried out...This was the first sex she'd had in three years....both of her legs were shaking, her whole body was trembling something fierce.....her head turned from side to side and tears were streaming down her face....She was experiencing an intense orgasm.....
He didn't know if he was coming or going!!
She had yet another intense orgasm.....She feared she was slowly losing her mind.....
"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU....UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMPH!" she moaned.
"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW..LAWWWWWWWWWDDDD!" he moaned
"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU GIVE ME THAT MONSTER!!! OH MY GODDDD!! YOU ARE HUGE!!! AND SO DAMN HARRRRD!! OUUUUUUUU! GIVE IT TO ME!!" she cooed.Her whole body trembled something fierce..
"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MYYYY DAMNNNNN!" he moaned..
UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM" she moaned..as the bed rocked and squeaked louder than it had since they'd begun making sweet love... The headboard creaked and sounded like it might split in half...
"OHHH SWEET BABY!! baby....Oh my goddd this is sooooooooo damn good.." he moaned...
" OHHHHHH MYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" she screamed out....
The bed squeaked even louder...
"OUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed. She had yet another intense orgasm , that had her crying like a school girl, had her head turning from side to side and had her legs trembling...
"OUUUUUUUUUUUU WHYYYYYYY?? WHYYYYYY?? WHY DO YOU HAVE TO DO IT TO ME SO DAMN GOOD???OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! OFFICER McCAIN, AWWWWWWWWW LAWWWWD WHYYYYY?" she cried out..
"AWWWWWWWWWWWWW SWEEEEEET BABYYYYYY! OUUUUUUUUU! BECAUSE I KNOW YOU NEED IT!!UMMMMMMMMMMM!!" he moaned..
"OUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed. She had yet another intense orgasm , that had her crying like a school girl, had her head turning from side to side and had her legs trembling..
They made love for the next EIGHT TO NINE HOURS!! She couldn't believe how passionate he was, his stamina.. It was as if he didn't want to get up off of her!!
She got dressed after they were through....
"You have to go now....I don't want you getting caught in here.." she whispered..
They kissed by the door for close to AN HOUR!
"YOU'RE WELCOME! THANK YOU!" he said.
He left her cell, locked it back up and walked away..
All was quiet....She never saw him again! Two days later she was transferred to Valhalla ,here in Philadelphia and now Phoenixville , where this afternoon, she was to be put to death!
III-
Darlene Betts walked into the room accompanied by a Female Guard...She had handcuffs on and leg irons...
"MS. VIRGINIA!!!OH MY GODD!! HOW ARE YOU?" she nearly screamed..
The last time she saw Ms. Virginia, they were both incarcerated at Dolly Madison Correctional Center for women....That seemed like a lifetime ago...It had been about four years... Ms. Virginia had been paroled, Had gotten a job as a Office Manager and Legal Consultant at a Tony Law Firm (McCluskey/Cozen/Connor and Pratt) ,had gotten married, to a Judge and was living in a fine house in a new part of town..
"Well Hello Baby Girl." said Virginia.. Regulations didn't allow her to embrace or hug Darlene..but she did give her a big smile...
She didn't bother to ask her how she had been....It was obvious....She just nodded.
"You look good!" Virginia managed to say...
Her hair was done, Her make up and lipstick was impeccable...If she had on normal clothes...She would've looked like any other 30 year old career woman out on the street...
"I try" she said... Her eyes widened....
"Brooke, Natalie....you came..." she said.
"It was the least we could do...." said Brooke,.
"Hello Darlene...We'd like to introduce you to our husbands....We weren't married when you last saw us..but we are now...This is my husband, Attorney David Charles..." said Natalie.
"Pleased to make your acquaintance." I said.
"Hello Darlene ." said Sean...
"Hello" said Darlene... Brooke was a girl after her own heart...She too had a thing for Black men, thought Darlene...
It made sense...Brooke's best friend was a Black woman, Natalie, which meant she probably hung around a lot of Blacks....So naturally she was attracted to Black men she thought...
"Hello all of you, thank you for coming..." said Darlene.
"Darlene , Did you ever hear from your ex- attorney, Mike Zelensky?" asked Natalie.
"It is...I don't know if you know this...but we aren't prosecutors anymore?" said Brooke.
"You're not??" asked Darlene...The first surprise of the afternoon....
"No, we got tired of sending people to jail awhile ago...Today we are part of Wrongful Conviction/Conviction Integrity Unit...We get people out of jail who were wrongfully convicted." said Natalie.
"I imagine it is.." laughed Darlene.
She scanned the room... These were her last hours on Earth and she was spending them with the closest things she had to friends in this world..
Ms. Virginia , who had tutored her , Helped her learn how to read and write, Helped her get her G.E.D. , while incarcerated...
IV-
He was a Big Hulk of a man, Six foot three or four, Heavily Muscled...and Bald....He walked with Military Bearing...
"Officer McCain!" she said.
"It's Rufus baby....I'm no longer a C.O. I turned in my resignation, the day after you left.. I've got a new job...I'm doing security at a law firm in town..." said Rufus McCain...
I had heard that tone in a woman's voice before and in a man's... They were more than C.O. and Ex-prisoner.. There was an intimacy in their vocal cadence...
Natalie, Brooke and Virginia, being women understood it too....These two, Darlene and this Big Black man were close...Closer than maybe they were supposed to be...
Sean was hip too...He knew what was up.
"Rufus, these are some friends of mine.... This is Ms. Virginia...She was incarcerated with me at Dolly Madison...
"Hello." said Virginia.
"I remember you....You were the jailhouse lawyer...Helped girls write legal briefs, get new trials, taught Reading and Writing....Helped girls get their G.E.D. Then you got paroled a few years back... Heard you got a job at a law firm and married a judge." said Rufus McCain.
"All true. Still true." said Virginia, smiling... She remembered him...
"Glad to hear you landed on your feet...and landed well." he said and smiled.
"Natalie...
and her husband, David..." she said.
He nodded...
"Pleased to make your acquaintances.." he said...
"Of course we will." said Virginia.
I thought about it all...This woman was a murderer....She had committed a vicious ,violent crime and had been convicted of an attempted murder in the meanwhile...Was she a psychopath? Did she deserve this much attention? Who could say?
I suppose nobody is as bad as the worst thing they've done...And if us being with her when she took her last breath was comforting...Then I suppose that wasn't bad at all.
(CONCLUSION NEXT)
