Tom Henry: Confession of a Killer
David Hendricks
- "What
- a
- good
- story
- …
- one
- of
- the
- best
- I’ve
- seen
- in
- my
- fifty
- years
- as
- an
- editor.
- Tom
- Henry
- feels
- so
- authentic.
- The
- incidents
- and
- anecdotes
- show
- us
- how
- this
- often
- reckless,
- at
- times
- feckless,
- always
- generous-hearted
- guy
- could
- have
- committed
- these
- murders."-Renni
- Browne,
- founder:
- The
- Editorial
- Department,
- coauthor:
- Self-Editing
- for
- Fiction
- WritersTom
- Henry:Confession
- of
- a
- KillerIn
- 1983
- the
- author,
- a
- Christian
- Businessman,
- arrived
- home
- from
- a
- sales
- trip
- to
- discover
- that
- his
- wife
- and
- three
- children
- had
- been
- brutally
- murdered.
- A
- year
- later
- he
- was
- convicted
- and
- sent
- to
- prison.
- He
- was
- innocent.In
- prison
- he
- met
- Henry
- Hillenbrand,
- known
- as
- the
- card
- man
- because
- he
- sold
- homemade
- greeting
- cards.
- Henry
- told
- David
- an
- incredible
- story.
- In
- 1970,
- after
- murdering
- the
- woman
- he
- loved
- and
- the
- man
- he
- found
- her
- in
- bed
- with,
- he
- had
- executed
- a
- daring
- escape
- from
- jail
- by
- cutting
- through
- his
- cellblock’s
- iron
- cage
- and
- the
- bars
- of
- a
- window
- and
- rappelling
- from
- the
- third
- floor
- with
- a
- rope
- he
- braided
- from
- a
- sheet.During
- 13
- fugitive
- years
- in
- Missouri,
- he
- had
- remarried
- and
- fathered
- two
- boys,
- defended
- himself
- in
- court,
- attempted
- suicide,
- converted
- to
- Christianity,
- and
- been
- recaptured
- by
- the
- FBI.In
- this
- book,
- the
- two
- imprisoned
- convicts
- endure
- riots,
- shakedowns,
- and
- gang
- extortion
- attempts
- while
- the
- formerly
- godless
- murderer—now
- a
- believer—dictates
- his
- story
- to
- the
- formerly
- Christian
- family
- man—now
- a
- skeptic.One
- is
- trying
- to
- get
- his
- story
- out;
- the
- other
- is
- trying
- to
- get
- himself
- out.Throughout,
- the
- goodwill
- and
- humor
- of
- both
- men
- emerges.
- Early
- on,
- when
- David
- wants
- to
- write
- this
- book,
- Henry
- advises
- him:
- “Be
- careful
- what
- you
- wish
- for,
- Hendricks.
- When
- I
- was
- a
- child,
- I
- wanted
- bunk beds.”
