Last month was a horrible one for Willie Manning: his fellow inmate, Richard Jordan, was killed by an employee of the State of Mississippi. It was a grisly business, with a break for another employee to try to decide whether Jordan was unconscious.  

The event was certainly traumatic for Jordan’s wife, who sobbed while watching her husband being killed. It must also have been horrific­­ for Jordan’s attorney (who also represents Willie), who was observed to dab her eyes while watching the killing of her client.

The death penalty allows no room for rehabilitation: it is unashamedly about revenge. But, as Mike Berners-Lee so rightly puts it, “Revenge is about multiplying the total damage.”* As well as the likely pain and suffering experienced by the condemned man, trauma and bereavement are inflicted on his family, friends, fellow inmates, prison staff and attorneys. The total damage is enormous.

Richard Jordan committed a horrendous murder while severely traumatized after three back-to-back stints of military service in Vietnam. Jordan’s jury was not informed about the huge impact such trauma can have on a person’s behaviour: this impact has only recently been understood.

Willie Manning does understand that Jordan’s brain was damaged by trauma when he committed his crime. Despite the stress of dealing with his own case, Willie did what he could to support Jordan during his last weeks on death row.

We are thinking of Willie at this sad time, and of everyone else who grieves for Jordan.

We also remember Edwina Marter, who died at Jordan’s hand 48 years ago. Sadly, the killing of Jordan will not restore her life.

*Berners-Lee, Mike (2019), There is no Planet B: A Handbook for the Make or Break Years, Chapter 6 (People and Work). Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press.

NB The title of this post was amended on November 28, 2025: Jordan’s first name, Richard, was added to the title to remove the possibility of confusion with the key witness in Willie’s remaining case, Earl Jordan.