It all started with a beautiful day and ended in death row. The story of Juan Melendez, a man who spent almost 18 years in jail for a crime he did not commit, is an amazing tale of endurance and hope. On May 7, 1984, Melendez was arrested on the charge of first-degree murder in Florida.
Police claimed to have his confession, but there was no physical evidence against him. He was found guilty on a Thursday, and by Friday he had been sentenced to death.
Melendez commanded the Kilworth Chapel stage as he told his story last Thursday. He gestured, tramped around, made faces. He encouraged the audience to cry if they wanted and laugh when they could. It was obvious that Melendez wanted everyone to understand exactly what he had gone through for 18 years: it had been a horrendous ordeal.
He described his prison as being infested with rats and cockroaches. He explained how his breakfast was delivered through a slot in the door to his cell and how he had to grab his food quickly, because the roaches would get to it first if he didn’t. He said he slept under his blankets to avoid seeing the rats scampering about. Sometimes they would try to get warm under his blanket alongside him, and he would have to push them off.
As he continued, he talked about his fear of dying. In prison, gangs were killing someone every week. He could only wonder, “How long until they kill me?” As his fear grew, he became determined to fight. Melendez detailed how he tied the door shut with ropes he had fashioned in his cell. He spoke of the verbal war that ensued when the guard discovered what he had done.
“I do not know much English,” he said, “but I do know how to curse.”
His story grew more depressing. Melendez spoke of an inmate from the prison—separate from death row—who worked in their building. The inmate would provide the tools of escape, of suicide, if a death row convict was willing to trade. He said that many people on death row chose this option, explaining that “You dead, but you free!”
Eventually, he said he got to the point where he became willing to trade for the suicide kit. He made the deal and put everything together, forming a noose from which to hang himself in his cell. That night, he said, he had a dream.
He dreamt and thought about his childhood and what had made him happy. In the morning, he flushed the suicide kit down the toilet. Every time he felt depressed, wanted to get out or felt suicidal, he remembered his dreams and the things that made him happy.
It was during these years of imprisonment that Melendez learned how to speak and write in English. He mentioned that he often received mail from his mother and from others. He said he still has them to this day. Melendez then spoke of his friends. He told the story of a man who collapsed once and stopped breathing. The nurse continued to delay any action to save the man’s life until Melendez begged to give his friend CPR. He was allowed and desperately tried to save his friend’s life, but to no avail. His friend ended up dying in Melendez’s arms.
He spoke of another friend he got to know while on death row. When the man was later executed, Melendez said he knew the exact moment of his death because the lights in the prison turned on and off.
Melendez said that, unlike his friends, “I was saved in spite of the system.”
His case finally became hopeful when he attained new lawyers. New appeals were made. Someone found a tape that had been withheld from trial, containing the confession of the real killer. Documents were also found that corroborated the story of the murder and the killer’s confession.
Melendez was surprised by his release when he was taken in handcuffs and chains to an information office and was asked many questions. He didn’t understand what was happening.
When he finally realized what was going on, Melendez was “in a state of shock, but smiling,” he said.
He was happy to be released, but was sad to leave his friends behind. When he came face-to-face with one of them, Melendez was unable to say anything. Instead, his friend gave him advice about what he should do once he had left prison. As Melendez was leaving, everyone clapped and whistled in excitement at his freedom.
At the end of his story, Melendez spoke out against the death penalty. His poignant words reached everyone in the room, highlighting his many close calls with death and the threat the death penalty poses for everyone: “We can never release an innocent man from the grave.”
In the end, the message Melendez sent is one of hope. He encouraged everyone to educate themselves about the death penalty and discussed what it means to the innocent people who are put there—and especially what it means for their families.
There are “so many good things, so many good choices we can make in life,” he said.
These are wise words from a man who knows exactly what it’s like to lose the freedom and the ability to make those choices. The only thing left to do is put them to good use.