Who is Ron Williamson from the nonfiction book, The Innocent Man?

Ron Williamson was a resident of Ada, Oklahoma. He was born in 1953 and took an interest in baseball at a young age. He had much success with baseball through high school. He was then drafted for a minor league team, but he never made it to the major leagues. He returned to Ada in his early-to-mid-twenties. He developed a drinking problem, as well as chronic mental health issues such as depression and possible schizophrenia. He lived with his mother and spent his free time playing guitar or drinking in bars. On two occasions, he was charged with rape, but he was found not guilty in court both times.

After the murder of Debbie Carter in the early 1980s, the Ada police named Ron as a suspect, despite the lack of any evidence indicating any connection between Ron and the crime. The police interrogated and harassed Ron, eventually coercing a false confession from him. Ron was put on trial for the crime, and he was found guilty despite the complete lack of valid evidence. Ron was sentenced to death and spent several years on death row. Ron’s mental health deteriorated steadily and significantly throughout the years of this ordeal, but the courts repeatedly declared him mentally competent enough to stand trial. Eventually, in 1999, he was exonerated with DNA evidence and was set free. He sued the police and courts, and he was given a large amount of settlement money. Ron died of cirrhosis of the liver in 2004, at the age of 51.