..  ..Nicholas Yarris ...No AM-6841 ...State Correctional Institution at Huntington ...Huntington, Pennsylvania ...Year of Birth 1961 ...Marital Status married while on death row ...Children none ...Date of offense December 15, 1981 ...Sentenced to death January 23, 1983 ...Status Exonerated by DNA; August 2003 Click on the image to view a larger version. Scroll below for an account of the session.

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Nicholas Yarris was convicted of the rape & murder of 33 year old Linda Craig, whom he kidnapped at a shopping mall just before Christmas 1981. When Mrs. Craig failed to arrive home on time, her husband & a police officer began to search for her. They found her car parked along a desolate roadway. Early the next morning, her badly beaten body was found in a church parking lot. She had been stabbed six times. Nicholas Yarris escaped after two years on death row. By instinct he eluded the helicopter & the dogs. It was February & it was cold. He ended up in Florida, basking on sunny beaches, amazed at his newfound freedom. But after a month of running & hiding, he was arrested while sitting in a stolen car with a gun on the seat next to him. He freely admitted his identity & was soon on his way back to death row. We corresponded with Yarris for nearly two years before we were granted permission to see him. Time after time the corrections department in Pennsylvania refused our requests. Nick occasionally called us collect & we continued to write. Then we got lucky. When permission finally was given, it was with the stipulation that Nick would be behind glass. Lorie Savel was able to convince another state's corrections department to intervene on our behalf. Her strategy eventually worked. We flew to Pittsburgh during one of the biggest storms of a terrible winter. Our flight to Altoona was canceled, so we drove to Huntington in zero visibility on treacherous roads through one of the highest mountain passes in the state. The three-hour drive turned into five. We knew our visitation would be impossible to reschedule. All his life Nicholas Yarris has exhibited a criminal mind. In his youth he had some success in sports, & even received a college athletic

scholarship to play baseball. But before he could accept, he was arrested for burglary. It was not an isolated infraction. In prison, Nick reads; he devours books. He has discovered all he missed when he wasn't able to accept that scholarship. "One of the best things that's ever happened to me was being locked down 22 hours a day. Because I had to not only deal with the demons that I dealt with as a child but I had to learn to educate myself & develop myself." Yarris is one of those inmates who got married on death row. His wedding is what originally piqued our interest. We even asked permission to do a portrait of the bride & groom. But Nick has had only one contact visit with his wife, the day they were wed. "I wanted to take the absolute worst date of my life & change it. And that was July 1, 1982 [the date of his murder conviction]. I wanted to take that day & reverse it with something that really meant something to me. So we got married on July 1, 1988...." Nick's wife, Jacque, visits him religiously. She works tirelessly on his case. He & Jacque are continually trying to force Pennsylvania to reexamine the evidence. He claims that DNA testing will prove his innocence. But in 1988 the chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed the jury's verdict. Still, they persist. Nick continues to call us collect to give us updates on his case. We try to pretend it is all normal.