Johnny Frank Garret, a mentally handicapped man from Amarillo, was executed by the State of Texas for the rape and murder of Sister Tadea Benz, a Catholic nun at St. Francis Convent, on the morning of October 31, 1981 when he was 17 years old. Garret claimed he was innocent throughout the whole ordeal. Despite requests for stays of execution and even an appeal for clemency from Pope John Paul II, Garret was executed by lethal injection on February 11, 1992. Later, DNA evidence and follow up investigations pointed to Leoncio Perez Rueda as the true culprit. According to legend, among Garret's final acts was to pen what the Austin Chronicle termed a "theatrical curse" on all those who had a hand in this injustice. And if may have actually come to pass. A number of the attorneys, jurors, and others associated with the case have died peculiarly since his execution. Others found themselves surrounded by tragedy.
One juror's daughter died from an accidental gunshot wound to the head while his sister was killed by a drunk driver. Several jurors and lawyers died of cancer. Medical Examiner, Ralph Erdemann, was convicted of several felonies, including falsifying autopsies. Both a fellow inmate of Garret's and his former school teacher testified against him. They both committed suicide, as did the District Attorney Danny Hill. His daughter hanged herself a few years after. Another attorney's wife committed suicide and his son was accidentally locked inside a hot car, causing permanent brain damage.
Of course, if you take a given group of people over an indeterminate number of years, you will start to rack up a body count. It's the only certainty of life: no one gets out alive. The pool of people associated with his various trials and investigations might run into the hundreds. If 15 of them find themselves embroiled in tragedy, can we really blame that on a curse?
Then again...