An opponent of the death penalty in Nebraska asserts it undermines justice, even when it isn’t applied.
Attorney Jeffry Patterson represented four of the Beatrice Six…six people wrongfully convicted in the rape and murder of 68-year-old Helen Wilson in her Beatrice home in 1985. Patterson says even the threat of the death penalty leads to the risk of false confessions. . .

One of the Beatrice Six is also lending her voice to those calling for repeal of the death penalty in Nebraska.
Ada Joann Taylor was among the six people wrongfully convicted in the murder of Helen Wilson of Beatrice. Taylor says daily threats that she could be put to death led her to confess to a crime she didn’t commit. . .

DNA evidence eventually exonerated the six and led investigators to conclude drifter Bruce Allen Smith killed Wilson.
State lawmakers have given first-round approval to a bill to repeal the death penalty. The bill must clear two more rounds to win approval.