CHRISTOPHER -- Watching recently pardoned Illinois death row inmates on "Oprah" was the last straw for P.A. Severs.

Severs says he is a private person who normally keeps his opinions to himself. But the 58-year-old Christopher resident couldn't hold his tongue any longer. Severs even fired off an e-mail to the talk show host telling her that she had heard only one side of the story.

And Severs knows the other side of the story. Severs knows the inner workings of life on death row.

Severs worked for 36 years -- more than half his life -- at Menard prison in Chester, where he was promoted from a correctional officer to a sergeant and finally to chief of security for the prison's death row, a post he's held the past 10 years until retiring.

Severs said he was dumbfounded when he saw three death row prisoners on the national television show Jan. 15.

Aaron Patterson, Madison Hobley and Leroy Orange all shook then-Gov. George Ryan's hand as they stepped onto the stage for the show, which was broadcast live in Chicago. A fourth man pardoned by Ryan, Stanley Howard, remains in prison on an unrelated charge.

"I just couldn't believe it," Severs said. "I know that these guys are guilty. I listened to them boast about what they did and the people they killed. I've had many, many of them ask me, 'Do you know who I am and what I did?' If I've been told that once, I've been told that a thousand times. They like to boast about it."

As head of security, Severs was responsible for security, safety and the day-to-day operation of death row. The number of prisoners varied from 65 to 80 during the decade he was there.

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"I was around (death row inmates) on a daily basis, and I had a relationship of sorts with many of them. I talked to them a lot, and sometimes for long periods of time," Severs said. "I walked several of them to the helicopter when they were being transported to Statesville in Joliet to be executed the next day. I think that's what made Governor Ryan's decision to grant blanket clemency so difficult for me to understand."

When Ryan made his historic decision on Jan. 11 to commute the sentences of 167 death row inmates to life in prison, the reactions across the nation ranged from high praise from those who oppose the death penalty to shock and disbelief from family members of victims and those who favor capital punishment.

"My first reaction before Jan. 11 was that he might grant clemency to a few of the inmates in the cases where there were serious questions," Severs said. "I didn't think he would even consider the ones we know are guilty, the ones that confessed and the ones that there was no question about. I was just totally shocked." During Severs' 10-year stretch of working on death row, he said he dealt with what he describes as "the worst of the worst."

Severs' list of inmates includes Aaron Patterson, John Wayne Gacy, Ike Easley, Henry Brisbon -- dubbed the "I-57 Killer" -- and Thomas Odle, the Mount Vernon man who killed his parents and three siblings.

While the clemency given to all inmates bothered Severs, it was the pardon granted to Patterson and his appearance on "Oprah" that gnawed at Severs the worst.

"I couldn't believe it when I saw (Patterson) on television," Severs said. "He was in segregation on death row because he acted like an animal. We had to keep him behind a steel door because he refused to abide by even the simplest rules and regulations.

"He spent his time on death row thinking of ways to hurt somebody, whether it be other inmates or staff," Severs said. "And he's not the only one. But what the governor doesn't understand while he talks about having compassion for death row inmates is that those inmates didn't spend time behind a solid steel door because of a judge or a prosecutor. They put themselves there."

Severs, a Republican, said watching Ryan's clemency speech "made me physically sick." Severs estimated that as few as 10 of the 167 death row inmates had legitimate questions concerning their convictions.

"There is no way that he reviewed all 167 cases. That would have taken 10 years," Severs said.

Severs said he could understand that Ryan might have "had a feeling" about some of the inmates.

"Don't get me wrong, I wasn't their buddy, but some of them were model prisoners and good people," Severs said. "I walked some of these men to the helicopter, knowing they would be dead in 24 hours. These were men that I had dealt with for 10 years and talked with on a daily basis. Some of them never caused me a second of trouble, but they killed another human being."

Severs said he's confident that Ryan's decision to clear death row and also pardon four inmates will result in more deaths.

"First of all, when you put some of these guys that have been on death row back in the general population, it will create some real problems," Severs said. "I'm confident that Patterson is a murderer; there's no doubt in my mind. And you mark my word, somewhere down the line some innocent person will die because of Governor Ryan's decision."

Severs does believe the system is flawed.

"Yes, it's an imperfect system," Severs said. "But, Governor Ryan could have signed off on certain inmates without granting blanket clemency to many that I know are cold-blooded killers. The horror that the victims' families went through was forgotten. And if the family members knew what I know, what I saw every day, they'd feel even worse."

writeon1@shawneelink.net 618-625-2006

 
 

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