Anti-Death Penalty Vigil Attracts Attention in Pit

About 25 student members of Campaign to End the Death Penalty conducted an outdoor prayer vigil for convicted murderer Ronald Wayne Frye, hoping to garner the interest and possible support of passing students.

Frye was convicted in November 1993 for the stabbing death of his landlord, Ralph Childress, the previous January.

As campaign members read individual prayers, the scene Wednesday night caught the attention of many students roaming in and out of Lenoir Dining Hall.

A magnified photograph of Frye, taken just before his ninth birthday, sat on a tree next to the circle of Frye supporters. In the picture, Frye displayed numerous whip lashes and marks from beatings.

"We believe if the jury had seen this picture, it would have been enough ... for a life sentence," said Bill Massengale, a Chapel Hill lawyer who is one of Frye's post-conviction lawyers.

Many, including campaign activists, do not dispute Frye's guilt. Instead, supporters insist that Frye should receive a life sentence because they say important information about him being abused as a child had been withheld from the jury during his initial trial.

It also has been alleged that Frye's defense attorney was an alcoholic who drank heavily during the seven months he represented Frye.

Massengale compared Frye's situation to other convicted murderers he has defended in the past.

"These are really good people who grew up in terrible situations," he said.

Although many students stopped to watch the event, not all of them agreed the death penalty was an unfair punishment for Frye. "We don't agree with this at all," said freshman Jeanne Taylor, as she sat with her friends and looked out over the Pit. "Think of Timothy McVeigh -- what he did was not under God's eye, and what (Frye) did was not under God's eye."

Taylor said she doesn't think Frye's trial circumstances or history of abuse warrant a life sentence. "That doesn't change what he did," she said.

But junior campaign member Brock Towler said he was happy to see students stopping by to watch the vigil, even if they didn't necessarily support the group. "That's the other main purpose (of the vigil) -- to attempt to reach out to the campus community," he said.

And Towler remains optimistic about the possibility of Frye being granted clemency.

"There certainly are extenuating circumstances in this case," he said. "I wouldn't say one way or the other -- there's always a chance. I guess we'll just have to wait."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.