The Innocent Man

Murder and Injustice in a Small Town

By: John Grisham

Narrated by: Craig Wasson

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • LOOK FOR THE NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES • “Both an American tragedy and [Grisham’s] strongest legal thriller yet, all the more gripping because it happens to be true.”—Entertainment Weekly

John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction: a true crime masterpiece that tells the story of small town justice gone terribly awry.

In the Major League draft of 1971, the first player chosen from the state of Oklahoma was Ron Williamson. When he signed with the Oakland A’s, he said goodbye to his hometown of Ada and left to pursue his dreams of big league glory. Six years later he was back, his dreams broken by a bad arm and bad habits. He began to show signs of mental illness. Unable to keep a job, he moved in with his mother and slept twenty hours a day on her sofa.

In 1982, a twenty-one-year-old cocktail waitress in Ada named Debra Sue Carter was raped and murdered, and for five years the police could not solve the crime. For reasons that were never clear, they suspected Ron Williamson and his friend Dennis Fritz. The two were finally arrested in 1987 and charged with capital murder. With no physical evidence, the prosecution’s case was built on junk science and the testimony of jailhouse snitches and convicts. Dennis Fritz was found guilty and given a life sentence. Ron Williamson was sent to death row.

If you believe that in America you are innocent until proven guilty, this book will shock you. If you believe in the death penalty, this book will disturb you. If you believe the criminal justice system is fair, this book will infuriate you.

Don’t miss Framed, John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction since The Innocent Man, co-authored with Centurion Ministries founder Jim McCloskey.

Critic reviews

“A gritty, harrowing, true-crime story.”—Time

“A triumph.”—Seattle Times

“Grisham has crafted a legal thriller every bit as suspenseful and fast-paced as his best-selling fiction.”—Boston Globe

“Grisham’s pared-down prose and matter-of-fact voice make for tense reading.”—People

“Skillfully told . . . An important book.”—Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Meticulously researched . . . a compelling narrative.”—Entertainment Weekly

“John Grisham’s latest book has the usual touches fans have come to expect from the master of the legal thriller: suspense, shock, even a wrongful conviction and near execution. But this time, the tale is true.”—Associated Press

Grisham's real life thriller

Many of the elements of John Grisham's best novels are here. Sad to say this was a real life case of two men wrongly accused of murder, sent to death row, and finally, many years later, cleared.

Grisham, with his expertise in the workings (or in this case, misworkings) of our legal system, gives us all a lesson and a wake-up call to ensure that the competence and conduct of every person and agency involved in the process is always above reproach: from the law enforcement agencies doing the investigations, through the attorneys on both sides of the case, to the judges and juries who pass judgement and sentences.

The saddest part of this story is not Mr. Williamson's early death, but the fact that despite being thoroughly cleared by the DNA evidence, the Oklahoma prosecutor never apologized for wrongfully prosecuting, and continued to hold a "sword of Damocles" over both Williamson and Fritz by never ruling them out as suspects in the murder, while the logical suspect and most likely murderer was ignored.

We can, and must, do better.

Too Dry

I've heard interviews with John Grishom where he explains he'd never write another Non-fiction again..that researching it involved far too much research, facts, timelines, interviews etc.

Perhaps that is why this book is so dry. It is filled with so many timelines and facts that it just becomes drone.

I had a difficult time getting through it and staying with it. The reader didn't help!

Land of the free maybe not, Definitely the brave.

As I study law now and have worked as a paralegal for both proscution and over 10 years in defense I was mesmerized, emitional, and even more encouraged to finish my law studies and devote my time to defense.

Fascinating Story.

Great investigation. I hope DNA testing will confirm or deny justice on all currently on death row.

Better than reading!

This is such an amazing story, but I kept getting drowsy when I would try to read it. The read aloud was outstanding and added so much!