Lemon Andersen Reads a Diary Entry by William Van Poyck
Lemon Andersen reads a diary entry by William Van Poyck, a prisoner at Sussex I State Prison in Waverly, Virginia, during the 2009 event Breakout: Voices from Inside. Read the entry below.
Listen to audio of the reading
William Van Poyck
Sussex I State Prison
Waverly, Virginia
Thursday, July 24, 2008
An hour ago the Commonwealth of Virginia executed my friend, Christopher Scott Emmett. I had to wait and watch the 10:00 p.m. news on TV to be certain the execution had in fact occurred.
This is my regular ritual on the nights of executions, which always occur at 9:00 p.m. in Virginia.
It bothered me that I had to endure six or seven mundane stories—the weather, the traffic, a story about feral cats—before the announcer reported, almost casually, that Emmett had been put to death.
Virginia is very serious about killing people, in the name of teaching its citizens that killing is wrong. This was the fourth execution in eight weeks.
Four days ago I had to bite my lip as I helplessly watched the guards come in, chain Emmett up and take him away to Greensville, a ten-minute drive away, where the death house is located and the deed is done. In the almost nine years I’ve been here on Virginia’s death row I’ve seen them cart away and kill about 40 men. Three of those guys were good friends of mine, but even with the others, guys I knew well by dint of living in close proximity for years at a time, even if I didn’t care for them much …
It’s never easy to watch this happen, to be in the middle of the process, at ground zero, especially when, in the back of my mind, I must harbor the scenario that inevitably my time will come and I will be dealt with in a similar manner.
Listen to audio of the reading