From a Life Sentence to a Life Restored: Judy Henderson

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At age 18. Judy Henderson married the man who would become the father of her two children. What began with hopes of family and stability turned into 12 years of domestic abuse, a period she later recognized as foundational to her vulnerability in subsequent relationships.

In 1982, she was wrongly convicted of capital murder in a case tied to her then-boyfriend’s criminal activities. He was acquitted at trial; she was sentenced to life in prison without parole. At 32,Henderson entered the Missouri prison system with no history of criminal behavior and little understanding of the legal process that had condemned her.

What followed was not just the passage of time, but a metamorphosis. Angry and disoriented at first, Henderson turned inward to confront her past and embrace her faith. Therapy sessions and support groups — particularly those for survivors of domestic abuse — helped her understand the patterns of trauma that had shaped her decisions. She came to recognize herself as a battered woman, a term she had not known before incarceration. 

Her eventual release came in 2017 through the clemency of then-Governor Eric Greitens, who made history as the first Missouri governor to personally visit a prison to deliver news of a commutation. Now in her seventies and living near her family in Missouri, Henderson works for Catholic Charities and remains an active advocate for criminal justice reform.

She recounts it all in her new memoir, When the Light Finds Us: From a Life Sentence to a Life Transformed.

To learn more about Judy Henderson, including how to buy her memoir, visit www.judyannhenderson.com

To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com.

Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and leave a comment at our YouTube channel and be sure subscribe and tell your friends and family about us.

Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]