Anniversary of shooting

I wish to add a personal note to the 50th anniversary story regarding the shooting deaths of two Cape Girardeau police officers. As a reporter for the Southeast Missourian, I covered the first two trials of Douglas Wayne Thompson and the execution of Sammy Aire Tucker.

Here is an interesting note not mentioned in your story. Thompson, an accomplished jailhouse lawyer, was paroled after 20 years and had returned to California, when, ironically, one of his endless petitions still in the pipeline won him still another trial. Thus he was returned to Missouri, convicted again and sent back to prison, surely not a result he anticipated when he filed the appeal. I was editor of the paper at that time and recalled the determination of prosecutor Larry Farrell to pursue the case all the way.

DON GORDON, Clemmons, N.C.