Bid to Stay in Prison for Rally Wins Longer Term
An Ohio inmate convicted of manslaughter who sought to remain in prison an extra day so he could attend a Promise Keepers rally will be behind bars for almost three extra years instead.
Willie Chapman, 36, made the request before the religious gathering held last month inside the Marion Correctional Institution. The children of the woman he killed learned about his unusual request and fought his release. The Ohio Parole Board reversed itself, voting to postpone Chapman’s release until at least May 1, 2006.
Imprisoned for voluntary manslaughter of his wife in 1988 and sentenced to six to 25 years in prison, Chapman said he did not regret asking to stay long enough to attend the in-prison rally, the first for the evangelical Christian men’s ministry.
“I did that for God, and I could never regret that,” he said. “I’m going to keep my faith. I’m not going to give up.”
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