The Last Word Documentary

Director/Producer Comments

Part One

Inspired by

"The Curse"

In the closing scenes of The Last Word Johnny Frank Garrett's final letter appears. In the letter Garrett casts a curse on those responsible for his wrongful execution. Many people connected to Garrett's case confronted horrible tragedies beginning soon after the execution. Some of their stories were included in the film, some were not.

In the Film

1.	Juror Novella Summner fell down a flight of stairs and died a few days later of complications.
2-3.	Juror Nathan Shackelford's daughter died form an accidental gunshot wound to the head. His sister was run over and killed by a drunk driver.
4.	Garrett's trial lawyer Bill Kolius died of pancreatic cancer.
5-6.	Garrett's first appellate lawyer Bruce Sadler and post-conviction trial Judge Sam Kaiser contracted the same form of leukemia. Kaiser died after initially being cured. His healthy bone marrow (collected in case of recurrence) inexplicably disappeared from the hospital.
7.	Jimmy Don Boydston contracted leukemia and died.
8.	Officer Walt Yerger also died of leukemia.
9.	NBC Reporter Cathy Jones died in an airplane crash in Oklahoma while covering a story.
10-11.	Medical Examiner Ralph Erdemann was convicted of numerous felonies for falsifying autopsy reports. His medical license was revoked and he was sent to prison. His wife died of pancreatic cancer.
12.	Eugene "Heavy Duty" Patterson was found dead in his vehicle. A cause of death was never determined.
13.	Watley, a jailhouse snitch who testified against Garrett for a reduced sentence, committed suicide.
14.	Carol Moore, Garrett's school teacher who testified against him at trial, also committed suicide.
15-16.	District Attorney Danny Hill also committed suicide. His daughter hung herself a few years later.
Not In The Film
17-18.	One of Garrett's many appellate attorneys, Jeff Blackburn lost his wife when she committed suicide. His son was accidentally locked inside a hot car in Houston and is permanently brain damaged.
19.	Ann Richards contracted cancer twice and finally succumbed to esophageal cancer.
20-21.	Amarillo Author and Attorney, Anthony Josef discovered facts proving Garrett's innocence in 1995. He decided to write a book about the case. Afraid of reprisal from the legal community in which he worked, Josef decided to fictionalize Johnny Frank Garrett's story instead of telling the truth. The final revision of his untitled manuscript was completed near the end of the 1996.

During pre-publication reviews, Josef assembled some close friends to critique scenes. One member of the group was Rosemary Flint a briefing attorney for the local Federal District Court. Within weeks of reviewing Chapter 45, which told of a character who committed suicide by car in a closed garage, her brother committed suicide in the exact same way.

In Chapter 19 a central character is found dead in a wooded area shot between the eyes. In Chapter 26 a young police officer trying to apprehend the murderer is shot in the chest and killed with the same gun. Back to reality. On April 8, 1997 (the 5^th anniversary of Danny Hill's suicide) Josef's brother and 12 year old nephew were shot between the eyes and killed by a homeless man in Florence, South Carolina. The murderer escaped into the woods and hid for three days. When he emerged from the woods he came upon a young police officer who was a part of the search team. The homeless man disarmed the police officer and shot him in the chest, killing him.

Aware of numerous sudden and unexpected deaths of people associated with Garrett's case combined with deaths surrounding his family as well as the novel, Josef became spooked! He packed-up the manuscript and all of his research and locked it away in his basement. He suspected and feared the story had a sour spirit attached to it. Seven years later, still unaware of "The Curse," Josef once again tried to finish the job and moved toward publication.

As the novel approached printing, Leoncio Perez Rueda was arrested for the murder of Narnie Box Bryson. Josef changed the title of the book and hurried through edits to include Leoncio's name in place of the random Spanish name he had chosen for the character. Josef included an Author's Note at the end of his novel outlining his reasons for believing Garrett was innocent and Leoncio was the true killer.

Leoncio's Candle of Death was released in October 2004 just before the anniversary of the Sister Tadea Benz murder. Josef dedicated the book to his murdered brother and nephew. A few months later Josef's niece Stephanie, a 14 year old daughter of the murdered brother, was brutally attacked by an African American serial rapist and killer. Luckily she escaped and later identified the killer.

Josef's work of fiction did absolutely nothing to change public opinion about Garrett's innocence. If anything, the book created more confusion and made matters worse by ripping scabs off wounds long ago healed in Amarillo's Catholic Community. Ashamed of his lame attempt to clear Garrett's name, Josef pulled the book from store shelves and swore to never attempt to sell another copy. Instead, he contacted Attorney Barry Scheck with The Innocence Project in New York City to request help in clearing Garrett's name. Attorney Scheck declined and explained that all resources were being spent to save the living not clear the names of the dead. Scheck suggested Josef look into the possibility of having a documentarian do a film. Josef contacted the Asian female filmmaker Scheck suggested. She was too busy to assist but offered words of encouragement.

I'm divulging this information not only to provide an explanation for why "The Curse" was included in the film but also to explain how I was "inspired" to make the film. The Last Word is my penance for not having the courage to tell the truth after it was handed to me on a silver platter. A silver platter from somewhere beyond here and now. Perhaps The Last Word will deliver peace and a final justice to Johnny Frank Garrett and his family.

Jesse Quackenbush

a/k/a Anthony Josef

Director/Producer