Novelist signs contract for nonfiction book involving Ada case

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ An Ada man who was once five days away from being executed for a crime he didn't commit will be the subject of a book by best-selling author John Grisham. <br/><br/>Grisham will

Wednesday, March 9th 2005, 1:25 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ An Ada man who was once five days away from being executed for a crime he didn't commit will be the subject of a book by best-selling author John Grisham.

Grisham will write about Ron Williamson[pictured], who was convicted and sentenced to die for the 1982 murder of Debra Sue Carter in Ada. A co-defendant was also convicted and sentenced to life and both men spent 12 years in prison before DNA evidence cleared them. The DNA implicated a key prosecution witness, who has since been convicted and sentenced to die for Carter's murder.

Grisham says he became interested after seeing Williamson's obituary in the New York Times in December and he's bought the rights to the story from Williamson's sisters.

The book has no title yet, but Grisham says he expects to finish it in about ten months.