Ronald L Sanford: The forgotten man
15-year-old Sean Lamont Rowe and 13-year-old Ronald Lee Sanford were friends who lived in the Northside district of Indianapolis. On August 18th, 1987, the two boys approached the home of two elderly sisters, Anna Louise Harris, 83, and Julie G. Bellmar, 87.
The sisters lived at 305 Harvard Place, Indianapolis, on the same street as Ronald Sanford and, as neighbours, would probably have known who he was. Only one of the sisters was at home and it was the older of the two, Julie, who answered the door to the two boys. The boys said they were looking to earn money doing yard work, but it’s more likely they had decided to rob the old ladies. Ronald Sanford admits that as soon as the door was opened they “pushed into the home of the sisters and it ended in a double homicide.” Julie was stabbed to death, and soon after returning home Anna Louise was also stabbed to death. Sean Rowe took 5 dollars and used it to go to the Indiana State Fair. The two women were murdered in the basement of their own home for just 5 dollars. If you know nothing about this case and you are reading this for the first time you may be thinking, they got what they deserved. (Read the original article here.) Unfortunately, it is not as clear cut as that and may turn out to be a miscarriage of justice. Because one of them did not get what he deserved and the other was given the most punitive sentence in U.S. legal history.
Indianapolis Recorder March 11, 1989 In late 1988, Sean Rowe was arrested by officers from The Marion County Sheriff’s Department. He immediately requested a plea bargain and then implicated Ronald Sanford, agreeing to testify against him. Rowe told officers that he himself had done nothing. He was, apparently, just a bystander to a robbery and double murder. Most of the charges against Rowe were dropped, except one; assisting a robbery. On March 22nd, 1989, he pleaded guilty to that charge and received a sentence of 5 years 11 months and 30 days. He was released on March 24th, 1991, having served 2 years and two days. Always worth bargaining, isn’t it? Ronald Sanford was advised to plead guilty to double murder, robbery with bodily harm and burglary on the understanding that his age and lack of conclusive evidence would be taken into account. He was 15 years old when he stood before the court and he was sentenced to 170 years without parole. His projected release date is 2070–57 years hence, and he’s already served 24 years in lock down. As I said, it is always worth bargaining…especially when the police can’t prove who did what to whom.
Indianapolis Recorder April 22nd, 1989 So, why should anybody care about Ronald Sanford? Well, the evidence for his conviction is largely based on Sean Rowe’s testimony. The police had to rely on one of them blaming the other, as it was difficult to prove conclusively who wielded the knife that was responsible for the death of two elderly ladies. Obviously, one of them did it or maybe they were both involved, who knows? — but Sean Rowe made sure it wasn’t him that was charged with a double murder by immediately requesting a plea bargain as soon as he was taken into custody. It was one year after the crime that Sean Rowe was arrested. If he was just a bystander in that basement, doing absolutely nothing, why didn’t he go to the police and tell them what happened? Why did he walk around with a double murder charge hanging over his head for a year when all he was guilty of was assisting a robbery? He didn’t report the crime because Sean Rowe is not stupid. He knew the police wouldn’t believe him. There were two boys in that basement room, one aged 15, one aged 13 — logically, who was more likely to have been the aggressor? Have you ever known a 15 year old take orders from a 13 year old — if you have children, especially boys, you’ll know it doesn’t usually happen. Note that it was Sean Rowe who ended up with the money. And, remember, he was just an innocent bystander.
And then there is the personalities of the two boys. Ronald Sanford is quietly spoken, genial and highly intelligent. Aged 13 those personality traits would have been forming, or already formed. In other words, he wasn’t very street-wise and he allowed the confident older boy to walk all over him. And what about Sean Rowe? Well, on October 29th, 1999, he was sentenced to 20 years for child molestation and 1 year 5 months and 27 days for incest. As a 15 year old, what personality traits would Sean Rowe have displayed? It’s likely he would have been the dominant personality. Sean Rowe’s projected release date is December 25th, 2014.
Ronald Sanford in custody aged 14 Ronald Sanford accepts that the crime the boys committed was abominable and that he deserved punishment. But considering the difficulty the police had in knowing just who did stab the elderly ladies, the 170 year sentence dished out to a 15 year old boy seems beyond harsh. We’ll never know, of course, but what if Ronald Sanford did not hold the murder weapon, what if he’s spent 24 years in lock down for a crime that he did not commit. Ronald Sanford’s tiny cell is filled with books and positive messages he has written on the wall. He says, “The books allow for a great escape and to be able to leave the confines of the walls. You put an animal in a cage for a great amount of time, it goes crazy. How much more so, humans?”
Written on the wall of Ronald Sanford’s cell Surely there is enough doubt about Ronald Sanford’s guilt for somebody in the Indiana Department of Correction to say 24 years is enough punishment for a crime a 13 year old may have committed. In the United Kingdom, Learco Chindamo, aged 15, in full view of pupils, stabbed his headmaster, Phillip Lawrence, to death outside the school gates. Chindamo served just 14 years. Tracie Andrews stabbed her fiance 42 times with a penknife. She served just 14 years for murder before being released. It was said she has never shown any remorse. Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, both 12 years old, tortured and then murdered 2 year old James Bulger. They served just 8 years before being released with new identities.
Ronald Sanford’s cell. Unfortunately, nobody (except Sean Rowe and Ronald Sanford) really knows who murdered the two elderly ladies. The Indiana Department of Correction Parole Board have 57 years to determine the truth, because in the year 2070, when he’s 96 years of age, Ronald Sanford will go before the board seeking his release from his 170 year sentence, and they may have to release him! Click on the picture of Ronald Sanford’s cell to see just how small it is. (The man pictured is Sir Trevor McDonald, whose program ‘Inside Death Row’ highlighted the situation.) Ronald Sanford has spent 23 hours a day in this space for 24 years and he still has 57 years to serve before they’ll even consider looking at his case. If you kept an animal in a space this small animal welfare would file a court order against you for cruelty, and the animal would probably go insane.
Written on the wall of Ronald Sanford’s cell Why does anybody think it’s acceptable to keep a human being in conditions like this? The fact that Ronald Sanford has retained his sanity is a testament to his character and personality. If the Department of Correction is going to keep him locked up for 100 years, for goodness sake, at least give him a decent cell to live in.
Update: Sunday, November 23, 2014
Posted in the comments section:
Hi everybody. As like all of you, I wish there was something we could do. I have created a petition:
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/review-ronald-l-sanfords-case/bFNjhkRv
Please sign and share. Thank you.
The following comment was also posted by an anonymous reader:
Feel broken down, my body aches My heart it bleeds from past mistakes Can’t stop the tears, they fall like rain The words are spinning ‘round my brain So scared and feeling so alone The coldness fills my every bone No food, no sleep, can’t think at all Each way I turn, another wall This darkness haunts my very soul My world seems dead I’ve lost control The only weapon is my pen Depression has moved in again. A third article entitled ‘Ronald Sanford: Beyond redemption?’ can be found here.
Information and pictures courtesy:
The Indianapolis Recorder. ITV Trevor McDonald ‘Inside Death Row’
Originally published at www.scribes.eu on January 23, 2013.
