The Nation - News from March 16, 1988

Convicted murderer Willie Jasper Darden went to his death at the Florida State Prison in Starke, Fla., proclaiming his innocence and thanking people, including Andrei D. Sakharov and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who aided his 14-year battle to escape the electric chair. Darden was convicted of the murder of James C. Turman, who was killed Sept. 8, 1973, after he walked into his Lakeland furniture store and found his wife, Helen, being robbed of $15. Darden, 54, had attracted international attention from death penalty opponents and people who believed that his conviction was racially tainted. Darden was black and Turman was white. Besides Jackson and Sakharov, others who called for a halt to the execution included actress Margot Kidder and rock star Peter Gabriel.