Page 40 - June July 2017

Guilt vs Innovence: The Story of Billy Kuenzel ,

contact a couple of other inmates from Holman who family and friends would come visit me on a Sunday.
would have possibly known Tommy with regards to I watched my son at five years old walk around and a
possibly including their thoughts and stories in my doubt would creep in my mind “is it possible I will not
book. I wrote two letters and received one reply. It see him grow up?”
was from Billy, who did indeed know Tommy and
was more than happy to share information with me. Tragically, while Billy has been incarcerated both his
It could have ended there but as it turned out, he had parents have since passed away. His mother from ill C
his own story to tell. health and his stepfather killed in a road accident. This A
is still a raw and painful memory for Billy who was
Billy is a kind, warmhearted, generous and gentle unable to properly grieve for them, his father’s death P
man who is a liaison for catholic services at Holman. being particularly hard to deal with as it was so sudden. I
In 2003 he was asked to attend a kairos weekend. He also missed out on watching his son grow up. Billy’s T
At the time, Billy was in the process of helping ex-wife stood by him during the trial and ensured there A
to set up a hospice for sick and dying Death Row was regular contact with his son but as the years passed,
inmates which are still in use today. He found so it became difficult. “I was seeing him less and less and L
much peace and joy during that weekend that he my heart was breaking”. He feels that the state have not
decided to get more in touch with his spiritual side. just taken from him his right to live but also the right of P
He became more involved with kairos and the church his family to have him in their lives. Thankfully, for the
and eventually joined the Catholic faith in 2006. past year, Billy and his son have been getting to know U
Understandably though, prison life has not been easy. each other again and he hopes one day to finally meet his N
During one of our earliest correspondences, Billy 13 year old granddaughter. Even if Billy is eventually I
told me “I have found it hard to talk about myself a vindicated and set free he says that “These are the things
lot as I have led such a humdrum life here. When you the state can never make up for”. S
tell people that you have been wrongly convicted, H
most just roll their eyes and think all inmates say Billy regularly corresponds with a network of loving and
that, so I gave up trying to convince most and just let loyal friends and supporters who, over the years have M

the facts speak.” provided him with a valuable link to the outside world E
and helped him to get through the dark and difficult times N
he has endured. The most prominent of these is his wife
For almost a year, Billy and I have shared a Jane who is British and resides in Leeds, England. She T
continuous exchange of letters. What began as a became aware of Billy in 1999 through a friend and felt
hesitant enquiry about a former inmate has quickly compelled to get in touch. She received his first letter in
become a mutually cherished friendship. Billy 2000 and they fast became good friends.
has helped me to change my perspective on life
for the better and I have gradually come to realize Slowly, as they learned about each other’s lives, it was
how much we underestimate the value of our own clear that it was becoming something more. Jane also
“freedom”. We have shared thoughts, feelings and began to form a close relationship with David Dretzin
life stories and I respect him more every time I who, along with being Billy’s lawyer was by now a firm
read the words he sends to me. Though primarily friend and confidant. On July 9th 2004, Billy informed
“cheerful”, there are dark times too. The day he was David that he was going to ask Jane to marry him. The
convicted and sentenced to death is a surreal and next day he was approved for an overseas phone call.
emotional recollection for Billy. He was put in a July 10th is a date that will forever be etched on Billy’s
holding room where his family was able to come to heart. He says of that memorable day “We talked for a bit
see him before he was taken to Holman. Billy says, then I said “There’s something I’d like to ask,” So I told
“It was the first time ever I saw my Dad cry. Today her to picture me kneeling before her. I got on one knee
almost 26 years later I still can see it in my dark and I asked her to be my soul mate, my best friend and
moments.” During the days, weeks and months that most of all my wife. She said yes.” Billy recalls that the
passed, he struggled to accept his situation. “My

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