[cuchulainn]

from the WREG Memphis site

http://www.wreg.com/Global/story.asp?S=1151306

One Victim's Story...

02/25/03

by Jennifer Van Vrancken

Memphis- Patricia Braden recently took a gun safety class. She's a pretty good shot-- and she feels she'll need to be... if the state of Mississippi lets her ex-husband, a convicted murderer, out of prison.

It was 1984, Patricia Braden-- at the time, Patricia Drake, was living at the Turtle Creek apartments in Memphis... hiding from her husband who'd been stalking her for months. She remembers that night like it was yesterday "About that time, there was a knock on the door and I was so agitated and upset I didn't think. I cracked the door and it was him. He shoved the door into my face. In he comes and he has a knife."

That was when Patricia knew, she had to protect herself and her two sons. "I picked up this pistol that my father had given me. I didn't know anything about guns. I wish I had at that point. I was so scared when I pulled it back. It jammed. When it jammed, he just stood there laughing at me because he is standing there with a 12 inch knife and I am standing there with nothing. And I am between him and my kids."

Patricia knew she was in trouble. She told her two little boys to run and hide. "I thought, well, if I grab the knife he can't stab me. I just reached over and grabbed the knife and it cut my fingers off my hand." Somewhere in the scuffle, George Drake was stabbed in the leg and passed out. "I grabbed my kids and slung them over the top of him. I told them to run. We left and ran downstairs to the neighbors and they called the police."

Memphis Police arrested George Drake for the attack, but he made bail. And while Patricia was still recovering... he paid a visit to her father and step-mother in Victoria, Mississippi. "My understanding is that he hit my step mother first and cracked her skull. He shot my father twice in the head. Then he shot her in the head, dragged her down the hall and raped her."

In 1985 George Drake was sentenced to two life sentences for the homicides and time for burglary. Patricia thought two life sentences certainly meant George Drake would no longer be a threat. She knows now, she thought wrong. "Life is not life in the state of Mississippi. Life is ten years."

George Drake has a parole hearing set for November 2005. Patricia says, "They told me at the parole board that they can tell him he couldn't come back to Shelby County. But if he's already killed somebody then he's not going to follow that rule. He is going to come to Shelby County to get even with me. He may not kill me, but his thing was, if he couldn't hurt me then he was going to hurt my family... to hurt me."

Another amazing piece of this story is Patricia says she came across the parole information accidentally after a woman told her how to get in touch with a Mississippi victims' rights group.

Wednesday night on News Channel 3 at 10, we'll tell you some of the things Patricia was shocked to learn about the rights victims have and don't have... and how you can learn from her experience.

All content © Copyright 2001 - 2003,

[P95Carry]

Release after 10 years?! Incredible. Might as well give him a gun on the way out and tell him they'll ''keep his bed warm'' ..... cos he'll be back.

Well no, actually maybe he won't be back .. if his ex wife is prepared. Mind you, why the hell should she have to live in fear, anticipating the day when she may have to defend herself.?

Crazy.

[NewShooter78]

It really sucks that there is even a possiblility of this scum getting out of prison. I hope that she makes it to MS, to attend the parol hearing and to also try and sway the parol board. I think that victims can still do that. And its also good to hear that she is taking personal steps to keep her and her children safe.

[DeltaElite]

Just another shining example of what a miserable failure the "Legal System" is. :fire:

[Waitone]

AAHHHHH, justice in America. A woman is attacked, her family is terrorized, parents are murdered.

The goober is brought before the bar of "justice", conviced of 2 murders and sentenced to prison where he gets out in 10 years.

The state doesn't even bother to tell the woman of the parole.

And she is taxed to support the goober.

Everytime I read a story like this, one question passes through my head. "Why is that guy allowed to live my a state that claims the right to impose justice."

That ain't justice.

[Carlos Cabeza]

TEN YEARS !!!!!!! for double murder ! This guy is a waste of taxpayer money ! and should have been executed !:fire:

[Sergeant Bob]

That was when Patricia knew, she had to protect herself and her two sons. "I picked up this pistol that my father had given me. I didn't know anything about guns.
Well, I certainly hope that situation has been rectified!

[Quartus]

"Life is not life in the state of Mississippi. Life is ten years."


Ah, for those who disdain being careful of the meaning of words, ponder this well.


This is what you get when words don't mean what they say.

[Standing Wolf]

Memphis Police arrested George Drake for the attack, but he made bail. And while Patricia was still recovering... he paid a visit to her father and step-mother in Victoria, Mississippi. "My understanding is that he hit my step mother first and cracked her skull. He shot my father twice in the head. Then he shot her in the head, dragged her down the hall and raped her."

Mississippi should have hanged him by the neck until dead.