Nick Yarris

Nicholas James Yarris (born 1961) is an American who spent 22 years on death row after being wrongfully convicted of murder.

Nick Yarris
Born
Nicholas James Yarris

(1961-05-18) 18 May 1961
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
OccupationWriter
Spouse(s)Jacque Shaeffer, Karen Karbritz, Jessica Stubley, Laura Thompson

Yarris has stated he was the victim of sexual abuse as a child, which is disputed by his family, which led to addiction to alcohol, drugs and petty crime in his teens.[1] One day Yarris and a friend stole a car. When they got to a garage, the owner offered them $200 for the car. Yarris and his friend accepted and began stealing cars in order to raise money for their growing drug addiction.[1] On one of these occasions, Yarris was blasting music while driving under the influence when he was stopped by police in his native state of Pennsylvania.[1] The officer and Yarris got into a physical confrontation, and a shot was fired, The policeman managed to handcuff Yarris, put him in the back of his car and call for reinforcement. Yarris was then charged with stealing a car, driving under the influence, the kidnapping of a police officer, attempted murder of a police officer, reckless endangerment, possession of a firearm, robbery and resisting arrest.[1]

While in jail, Yarris, facing life in prison, spotted a newspaper article about the murder and rape of Linda Mae Craig. In The Fear of 13, the documentary based on his life, Yarris recalls how "something about that newspaper kept calling me."

To try and get out of jail time, he claimed that a man named Jimmy, a former drug addict thought to be dead by overdose, was involved in the rape and murder of Linda Mae Craig. When Jimmy turned up alive and with no involvement in Craig's murder, Yarris became the number-one suspect.[2]

In 1981, Yarris was charged with the abduction, rape and murder of Craig, a woman he had never met in his life.[1] At the time, Yarris was a 20-year-old drug addict who had been thrown out on the streets by his family.[1] The original charges, including the attempted murder of a police officer, were dismissed when the policeman involved told the jury he had been punched by Yarris, but then failed to corroborate his version through photographic evidence. In a second trial, however, Yarris was found guilty of murdering Craig. In 1982 Yarris, 21 at the time, was sentenced to death and sent to death row.[3] In 2003, DNA evidence proved that he had not committed the crime,[4] and in 2004 he was released. After his release, Yarris moved to the UK where he married his second wife, who divorced him due to adultery, and had a daughter who he is estranged from. He then married his third wife, also from the UK who divorced him. He now lives in USA with his 4th wife (also from the UK) and her 2 daughters.

He sued the Delaware County District Attorney's Office for malicious prosecution and the case eventually settled for $3 million in 2008, although he is currently unemployed and living in a trailer in Oregon. [5]

Yarris is the subject of the documentary The Fear of 13 released in 2015.[1] He is the author of the autobiography Seven Days to Live My Life (2008),.[6][7] He has also published books called The Kindness Approach (2017),[8] My Journey Through Her Eyes (2017) and Monsters and Madmen (2018).[9] He has an upcoming film which is the follow-up to The Fear of 13, as revealed on the True Geordie podcast.[10]

He appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience on September 11, 2018, talking at length about his experiences.[11]

Yarris lives in Oregon, USA with his fourth wife Laura and her 2 daughters.[12]

References
  1. The Fear of 13 (Documentary). United Kingdom. 2015.
  2. Machell, Ben (12 November 2016). "I spent 22 years on Death Row - I was innocent". The Times. The Times Magazine (72066): 34–69. ISSN 0140-0460.
  3. "Death Penalty: Nicholas Yarris spent 22 years on death row for a murder he didn't commit". The Times Herald. 2012-09-12. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
  4. Cacciottolo, Mario (2016-11-16). "Nick Yarris: 'How I survived 22 years on death row'". BBC News. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
  5. Hall, Peter (2014-10-04). "State gives no money to people wrongly convicted". The Morning Call. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  6. "Archives - Philly.com". articles.philly.com. Archived from the original on 2016-10-05. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
  7. Halliday, Josh (2013-03-12). "HarperCollins sued by former death row prisoner over ditched book". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  8. "Interview with Nick Yarris who Wrongly Spent 22 Years on Death Row". Crime + Investigation. 2018-08-07. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  9. Website, Nick Yarris | Official. "Books". Nick Yarris | Official Website. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
  10. The True Geordie (2017-03-02), INNOCENT ON DEATH ROW: THE FEAR OF 13 | True Geordie Podcast #22, retrieved 2017-05-20
  11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIc5XYpRc1M
  12. "Innocent man Nick Yarris on Death Row: 'I screwed up my life with a lie'". NZ Herald. 2019-07-07. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
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