Religious Leaders Submit Clemency Application for Dennis Skillicorn
August 12, 2008
JEFFERSON CITY, MO –Religious leaders from across the state submitted a clemency application today to Governor Blunt for Dennis Skillicorn who is scheduled to be executed by the state of Missouri on August 27, 2008. Citing that society and public safety would be better served if he were allowed to continue his worthwhile prison ministries, the signatories requested that Mr. Skillicorn’s death sentence be commuted to life in prison without parole.
Mr. Skillicorn is deeply remorseful for his part in the crimes leading up to the murder of Richard Drummond in 1994. He has spent the past decade in prison working for restorative justice and trying to make amends for his criminal behavior.
Since his arrest in 1994, Mr. Skillicorn has dedicated his life to God and has been involved in numerous worthwhile activities in prison, including the editor of Compassion, a national publication authored by death row inmates and dedicated to victim outreach. The magazine has raised over $34,000 in scholarships that have been given to family members of murdered victims.
Mr. Skillicorn has created and edited a book aimed at helping troubled youth make good choices and change their lives. The book has been provided free to juvenile detention centers across the country. Mr. Skillicorn was a founder of 4-H LIFE at Potosi Correctional Center, a family-strengthening program that fosters positive interaction between children and their incarcerated parents. Mr. Skillicorn chairs the prison’s hospice’s program that cares for terminally ill offenders.
Mr. Skillicorn has been a full time employee of Set Free Ministries that ministers to thousands of prisoners in Missouri and Illinois helping offenders find the healing power of God’s love. Mr. Skillicorn also began an annual charity carnival at the prison, the proceeds of which go to charitable community organizations.
The application states that, “Mr. Skillicorn has turned his life around, becoming a model of rehabilitation and service to others. He is a model prisoner who is a positive influence on other inmates and the prison environment…Dennis Skillicorn is not the same person who was arrested fourteen years ago. He is no longer a threat to public safety. His execution would be senseless. Society and public safety would be better served if he were allowed to continue his worthwhile ministries in prison.”
The clemency application was submitted in the name of Most Rev. John R. Gaydos, Bishop of the Diocese of Jefferson City; Most Rev. Robert Finn, Bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph; Most Rev. James V. Johnston, Bishop of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau; Most Rev. Robert Hermann, Archdiocesan Administrator of the Archdiocese of St. Louis; Bishop Gerald Mansholt, Bishop Central States, Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Rt. Rev. George Wayne Smith, Episcopal Diocese of Missouri; Rev. Carolyn Schrock, Church of the Brethren, MO/AR; Jim Hill, Executive Director, Baptist General Convention of Missouri; Dominican Sisters, Sparkhill, New York; St. Louis Religious Society of Friends, (Quakers); Institute for Peace and Justice.