Bride’s new husband awaits execution

Press, 2 April 1985, Page 7

Bride’s new husband awaits execution

NZPA-AP Richmond, Virginia Prison bars separated the bride and groom and their wedding was near the electric chair where he is due to die in under three weeks, but James Briley’s bride says she still got a few kisses. Briley, aged 28, is due for execution on April 18 after conviction for the murders of a pregnant Richmond woman and her five-year-old son. He married Evangeline Grant Redding, aged 14, a writer, black activist, and former television personality, in a double-ring ceremony last week. Briley remained in his cell in the basement of the state penitentiary, a dozen paces from the electric chair that took the life of his brother, Linwood, on October 12. Linwood Briley was executed for the mur-

der of a Richmond disc jockey. The bride, in a white suit, hat, and waist-length white veil, stood outside Briley’s cell carrying a spray of white and red carnations. “We held hands. I even got a few kisses,” she said. Briley was very happy, said his father, James Briley, sen. The new Mrs Briley said the ceremony was performed by a prison chaplain, Ms Marjorie Bailey, and witnessed by more than a dozen guards and prison officials. Asked if she would return to the penitentiary for the execution, she said: “I don’t even think that way. We are going to free this man because he is innocent.” Mrs Briley said she began writing to James Briley after his brother’s execution.

“He’s a fantastic person. He’s gorgeous, charming, and intelligent. He lights up my life,” she said. Briley was given two death sentences for the slayings of Judy Barton, aged 23, and her son, Harvey, in their home in October, 1979. Ms Barton, who was eight months pregnant at the time, was also raped. James and Linwood Briley were among six participants in the biggest death-row escape in United States history when they ovepowered guards, donned their uniforms, and used a fake bomb scare to flee the Mecklenburg Correctional Centre last May. The Brileys were the last to be captured. Numerous courts have rejected Briley’s appeals. The United States Supreme Court refused last week for the second time to hear his case.