The Man in the Monster by Martha Elliott

Michael at all, but he was compelled to ask what he saw as an important spiritual question. “What are you going to say to those eight women when you meet them in heaven?” To Michael it was like a sucker punch. “Don’t you ever ask me that again. Don’t ever ask anyone that again,” he snapped back. Yet Michael wanted and even needed Father John to come back, because he knew that he needed someone to tell him that God would forgive him.
    Father John’s arrival in Michael Ross’s life was Michael’s first close encounter with someone he regarded as a truly spiritual person. Although he had been brought up to believe that there was a God, he had not gone to any particular church or Sunday school. After his trial, he even began to question the existence of a supreme being because he felt that if there were a God, he would have prevented him from raping and killing the women. Father John opened his mind to the possibility that God would forgive him. He also began schooling Michael in Catholic theology and having him read books on the topic of forgiveness, particularly those written by Henri Nouwen. It was not long before Michael asked to receive first communion and be confirmed, and he became a devout Roman Catholic.
    Ann looked out for Michael. That meant taking his phone calls each week—even when she was thousands of miles away tending to a sick family member—or making copies of his articles in her office or even counseling him to be cautious about strange women who wrote to him. Until her own family obligations became too time-consuming, Ann was his clearinghouse—for monetary support, for distribution of the newsletter
Walking with Michael
that he sent to about a hundred peoplewho followed his case, and for his outside purchases—as well as his supportive friend doing whatever he needed. It was a huge undertaking, but she did it willingly, even lovingly.
    Their support was not just part of their fight against the death penalty, but was also for this man. They could see past the horrible things that he had done. Something about Michael Ross made him likable. Their affection gave him humanity. Until then it was much easier to stick to labels.
    I was surprised to find that they shared a lot of Michael’s views. In Ann and Father John’s world, this serial killer had become the victim of a sinister and unpredictable prosecutor who was out to get a death sentence at any cost. I had heard many stories about Bob Satti’s courtroom style, but it didn’t make sense to me that someone who had devoted his life to prosecuting criminals would be willing to compromise all his principles just to be the first to secure a death sentence.
    Michael was brought into court promptly at 2:00 P.M . It was as if we were about to witness an execution. Satti presented the nine-page document to the court, reading it aloud. Michael sat at the opposite table, listening to Satti go through the same legal language that he had heard in the upstairs conference room. Satti said he was ready to sign the stipulation but that he could not speak for Michael, who might want to delay his decision. Michael snapped back that he would sign it right there and then.
He
was not going to be the one who caused any delay. Satti and Michael penned their names to the agreement, and Judge Joseph Purtill, who was the judge hearing the pretrial motions on the stipulation, formally accepted the stipulation and agreed to send it to the state high court to answer “reserved questions” to clarify the law. It happened so quickly and efficiently, it was surreal. Michael had signed what could become his own death warrant—if the high court agreed to answer and the trial court accepted it.
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    A t this point, I still hadn’t interviewed Michael in person, and it was not clear whether the Department of Correction would ever allow me to visit him. The next best option