Life before Prison
I'm Michael Perry and I'm currently on death row in Texas, awaiting execution.
I'm 28 years old.
Not long ago, I began exchanging letters with a total stranger.
In one letter, I mentioned that I had been trying to get someone to build a web site for me.
Almost immediately, a friend of theirs wrote to me and offered to create this site.
There are no words to express my thanks strongly enough.
I am very grateful to these complete strangers for being willing to help someone they don't even know - especially someone who has been convicted of murder.
I personally provided all of the original material on this site by mailing it from prison.
Thanks again for stopping by.
Sincerely,
Michael Perry #999444
When I was 2 days old, I was adopted.
At age 7 I was put on Ritalin & Prozac.
Age 11 I was put into a mental hospital for running away.
And again when I was 12.
Age 13 I was put in an out-patient hospital and treated as a "lab rat."
They tested one drug after another on me.
At 13 1/2 I was sent to Outward Bound in Florida for a 2 week canoe trip through the Everglades.
I'm a city boy at heart. All those alligators had me going nuts but then we got attacked by MONKEYS!
No joke. I have pictures.
I decided that was enough so my parents took me home.
As a result, my father put me in jail to scare me, I guess.
When I got out, I was sent to Boy Town in Nebraska. I was there for about 2 years. Went to their "speciality programs" and all.
When I got out of Boys Town, my parents met me at the airport, told me they were sending me to a "summer camp" in Mexico.
Showed me a pamphlet with kids sailing, on jet skis, etc. so I said "cool" and went.
As soon as I showed up in San Diego, I was handcuffed, with a leg brace, and led to Casa by the Sea in Ensenada - my new "home."
At 18, I left Casa by the Sea.
They gave me $50, a bus ticket to the border, and a week stay at the YMCA.
Problem is, you can't get into a hotel or YMCA without I.D.
So I was on the streets.
You can't apply for an I.D. without a social security card & birth certificate, and I had neither.
Could not get a "legal job" no matter how hard I tried.
I was assaulted and robbed so I went to selling drugs, as well as abusing them.
Life, as you can see, has been one Hell of a roller coaster ride...