Rose, however, expertly unpicks the prosecution's line on all of this. He has hard evidence to refute it — the criminal histories of Gary's supposed co-conspirators, new forensic tests to show his semen doesn't match that found at the crime scenes, a cast of the killer's distinctive and different teeth from a bite mark on the last victim's breast, footprints several sizes smaller than Gary's feet — and he offers less tangible evidence to show how Gary might have been framed: tapes Gary claims were made of his police statement were said never to have existed yet were referred to in the margins of police files; matching fingerprints the police claimed to have found at the crime scenes were never, as was procedure, photographed in situ.
If anyone knows what he is doing in a case such as this one, it is Rose, who has made a distinguished career as a reporter of miscarriages of justice. He first went to Columbus, Georgia to write a piece for the Observer, and spent eight years working on this book, sometimes — as he points out — jeopardizing his independence as a journalist in an attempt to have a significant effect on Gary's case. He was appointed a paralegal investigator by Gary's appeal lawyers, and visited Gary on death row a number of times. These scenes — of Rose and Gary locked, according to prison regulations, in a narrow room from 9am to 3pm — are among the most evocative of the book's many jaw-dropping interviews, and one is stunning. In the absence of official permission to collect Gary's semen for a new forensic test, Rose takes it upon himself to ask for some in person, returning to his hotel with a strong-smelling package of clingfilm, which he duly allows to dry on his desk before FedExing it to a lab.
The result of all this is a dazzlingly reported, supremely elegant book of scholarly confidence. Yet at times when the discomfort level rises (Gary sends jokes and drawings to Rose's children), you can't help wondering: of all the people awaiting execution who might benefit from Rose's expertise, why does Gary deserve this special treatment?
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