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Dead Run: The Untold Story of Dennis Stockton and America's Only Mass Escape from Death Row
Summers are always stifling in southern Virginia, and they're even hotter on the Mecklenburg Correctional Center's Death Row when Dennis Stockton arrives there in July 1983. Charged with murder for hire, Stockton insisted he was innocent, but his jury sentenced him to die. In prison, he begins keeping a diary and it soon becomes his lifeline, nurturing dreams of freedom and publication as an author.
Mecklenburg's officials had always prided themselves on running a secure prison, but that left them vulnerable to an ingenious escape conspiracy. Though indispensable in the plotting, Stockton decides not to run, betting instead on a new trial and exoneration. The escape of the "Mecklenburg Six" is dazzlingly suspenseful, as they take hostages, don guards' uniforms, and, staging a monumental bluff, make history with America's first mass escape from Death Row. Mean-while, Stockton notes it all in his journal.
After the escape, a Norfolk newspaper editor, William F. Burke, Jr., writes to the remaining inmates, seeking information on the unprecedented breakout. Stockton's diary becomes the most revealing account, and when excerpts are published, a scandalous portrait of Death Row bribed guards, marijuana plants, homebrew alcohol, weapon stashes, unlocked cell doors, and jailhouse sex. Overnight, Stockton becomes the most hated man in Virginia's prisons for his exposé. During the next eleven years, he survives plots against his life and endures subhuman conditions.
Throughout his ordeal he struggles to find his voice as a writer, while battling to gain a new trial and escape the "monster factory," his name for Death Row. As Stockton's scheduled execution nears, the case against him begins unraveling, leaving readers to ponder the true nature of justice.
Mecklenburg's officials had always prided themselves on running a secure prison, but that left them vulnerable to an ingenious escape conspiracy. Though indispensable in the plotting, Stockton decides not to run, betting instead on a new trial and exoneration. The escape of the "Mecklenburg Six" is dazzlingly suspenseful, as they take hostages, don guards' uniforms, and, staging a monumental bluff, make history with America's first mass escape from Death Row. Mean-while, Stockton notes it all in his journal.
After the escape, a Norfolk newspaper editor, William F. Burke, Jr., writes to the remaining inmates, seeking information on the unprecedented breakout. Stockton's diary becomes the most revealing account, and when excerpts are published, a scandalous portrait of Death Row bribed guards, marijuana plants, homebrew alcohol, weapon stashes, unlocked cell doors, and jailhouse sex. Overnight, Stockton becomes the most hated man in Virginia's prisons for his exposé. During the next eleven years, he survives plots against his life and endures subhuman conditions.
Throughout his ordeal he struggles to find his voice as a writer, while battling to gain a new trial and escape the "monster factory," his name for Death Row. As Stockton's scheduled execution nears, the case against him begins unraveling, leaving readers to ponder the true nature of justice.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
2 people are currently reading
102 people want to read
About the author
Joe Jackson
8 books13 followersJoe Jackson is the author of seven works of nonfiction and a novel. His nonfiction includes: Leavenworth Train, a finalist for the 2002 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime; Dead Run: The Shocking Story of Dennis Stockton and Life on Death Row in America, with co-author William F. Burke and an introduction by William Styron; A Furnace Afloat: The Wreck of the Hornet and the Harrowing 4,300-mile of its Survivors; A World on Fire: A Heretic, an Aristocrat, and the Race to Discover Oxygen; The Thief at the End of the World: Rubber, Power, and the Seeds of Empire, one of Time magazine's Top Ten Books of 2008; and Atlantic Fever: Lindbergh, His Competitors, and the Race to Cross the Atlantic, released by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in May 2012. A first novel, How I Left the Great State of Tennessee and Went on to Better Things, was released in March 2004.
His seventh work of nonfiction - Black Elk: The Life of an American Visionary - was released by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in October 2016; it chronicles the life of Oglala Lakota holy man Black Elk, best known for his 1932 Black Elk Speaks, written in collaboration with the Nebraska poet-laureate John Neihardt. Jackson's biography received the following honors and awards in 2017: Winner of the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography; Best Biography of 2016, True West magazine; Winner of the Western Writers of America 2017 Spur Award, Best Western Biography; Finalist, National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography; and One of the Best Books of 2016, The Boston Globe.
His seventh work of nonfiction - Black Elk: The Life of an American Visionary - was released by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in October 2016; it chronicles the life of Oglala Lakota holy man Black Elk, best known for his 1932 Black Elk Speaks, written in collaboration with the Nebraska poet-laureate John Neihardt. Jackson's biography received the following honors and awards in 2017: Winner of the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography; Best Biography of 2016, True West magazine; Winner of the Western Writers of America 2017 Spur Award, Best Western Biography; Finalist, National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography; and One of the Best Books of 2016, The Boston Globe.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 25, 2021
The conditions of prison, especially Death Row, are mind-numbing and terrifying at the same time. While reading this book I also watched "13th" (2016) and conditions didn't seem to improve much. The book suffers from repetition and dragged-out prose, for which I blame the publisher and the insistence on 300 page books.
June 6, 2017
This book...wow. I couldn't stop reading, but I took my time soaking it all in. This is one of the books that will just stick with you. I will read again.
November 4, 2017
Too much like work and I'm one who isn't easily convinced of someone's innocence. I would need cold, hard facts.
June 14, 2020
Hoping Stockton’s words can begin conversations-if not-start on changing the justice and penitentiary systems.
November 13, 2009
I really enjoyed this book! The author made me think about my opinion that the death penalty is just. As the story unfolds, the author shows how a possibly innocent man is put to death in Virginia for a murder that happened in the early 1980's. As the story unfolds in the book, questions are raised about guilt. Most of the questions come because the star witness for the prosecution possibly lied.
I finished reading this book on the same day that Virginia carried out it's death sentence on the DC Area Sniper. The DC Area Sniper also tried to claim innocence up to the day of execution, but this was the only similarity between the two men. The DC Area Sniper case is a great example of why I believe in the death penalty.
As for this book, I don't believe Mr. Stockton was guilty of this crime, but he says himself that his life was leading to a violent end. He even admits to killing another man claiming self-defence, but the only other eye witness to the crime told another story. Mr. Stockton put his trust in the courts, but did not get the answer he hoped for.
I finished reading this book on the same day that Virginia carried out it's death sentence on the DC Area Sniper. The DC Area Sniper also tried to claim innocence up to the day of execution, but this was the only similarity between the two men. The DC Area Sniper case is a great example of why I believe in the death penalty.
As for this book, I don't believe Mr. Stockton was guilty of this crime, but he says himself that his life was leading to a violent end. He even admits to killing another man claiming self-defence, but the only other eye witness to the crime told another story. Mr. Stockton put his trust in the courts, but did not get the answer he hoped for.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 4, 2008
This is the only book that ever made me cry.
November 16, 2008
Southern fried speed freak on the skids. Eeeek! Freaking DEATH ROW man! Goddamn scary. And in the end another man possibly put to death for a crime he didn't commit - really scary.
July 28, 2013
Thought provoking insider's view of the American prison system and the death penalty.
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December 19, 2017Hello, I'm really glad to see many of you reading this true story which hardly scratches the surface of Drugs and Murders committed within the Township of Mount Airy, North Carolina and Surrounding Cities.
My Name is Gerald Ronald Cheek, The Private Investigator whom was hired by Washington DC Attorney Tony King and Charlottesville Va. Attorney Steven Rosenfield to search for and attempt to find the truth as to whether or not, Dennis Stockton Killed Kenny Ardner. It was an honor, to not only be hired by these two Stealth Attorneys, But to work this case gave me inner strength, I never knew could exist in oneself.
Dennis Stockton had an IQ of 160, with athletic skills to have played professional baseball.
Sincerely,
Gerald Ronald Cheek, G.R. Cheek Investigative Services, Inc.
Email: specialteegolf@northstate.net
My Name is Gerald Ronald Cheek, The Private Investigator whom was hired by Washington DC Attorney Tony King and Charlottesville Va. Attorney Steven Rosenfield to search for and attempt to find the truth as to whether or not, Dennis Stockton Killed Kenny Ardner. It was an honor, to not only be hired by these two Stealth Attorneys, But to work this case gave me inner strength, I never knew could exist in oneself.
Dennis Stockton had an IQ of 160, with athletic skills to have played professional baseball.
Sincerely,
Gerald Ronald Cheek, G.R. Cheek Investigative Services, Inc.
Email: specialteegolf@northstate.net
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews