Latest news with #IntheBlinkofanEye
Boston Globe
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Sunny Jacobs, a celebrity after freed from death row, dies at 77
Advertisement Her boyfriend at the time, Jesse Tafero, a petty criminal who had been convicted of attempted rape, was also convicted of murder. He was executed by electric chair in Florida in a notoriously botched procedure in May 1990. It took seven minutes and three jolts, and his head caught on fire. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Ms. Jacobs, whose death sentence was overturned in 1982, was ultimately freed a decade later, when a federal appeals court found that prosecutors had improperly withheld evidence from the defense. She took a plea deal rather than face retrial and was never legally exonerated. It was this story that formed the basis of Ms. Jacobs's subsequent, celebrated tale -- that she had been an innocent, a '28-year-old vegetarian hippie,' as she told The New York Times in a 2011 Vows article about her marriage to a fellow former inmate, Irishman Peter Pringle, who died in 2023. Advertisement A product of a prosperous Long Island family, Ms. Jacobs said she had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time, as had Tafero, when the killings took place. Responsibility for them, she said, lay with another passenger in the car, Walter Rhodes, who had also been convicted of petty crimes and who later confessed to the killings of the two officers (though he subsequently recanted, confessed and recanted again, multiple times). Ms. Jacobs's 9-year-old son, Eric, and a baby daughter were also in the car, and they were left motherless by what she claimed was her unjust incarceration. Her story was retold in theater and on film. Off-Broadway, Mia Farrow, Jill Clayburgh, Lynn Redgrave, Stockard Channing, Susan Sarandon, Brooke Shields, and others have all portrayed her in 'The Exonerated,' a 2000 play by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen. It became a Court TV movie in 2005 starring Sarandon. Ms. Jacobs's story was also the basis of an earlier TV movie, 'In the Blink of an Eye' (1996). Barbara Walters once devoted a sympathetic segment to Jacobs on the ABC News program '20/20.' And Shields, along with actresses Marlo Thomas and Amy Irving, attended Ms. Jacobs's wedding to Pringle, in New York, at which Shields wept and said: 'Despite everything they have been through, they are not bitter or jaded. They never closed their hearts.' But the story was more complicated than the one that Ms. Jacobs fashioned over the years, and that was swallowed uncritically by media outlets and by the worlds of stage and screen. A young former reporter, Ellen McGarrahan, who had witnessed Tafero's execution for The Miami Herald and was haunted by it, spent much of the next 30 years digging into what had actually happened that day at the rest stop. She published her findings in a well-received 2021 book, 'Two Truths and a Lie.' Advertisement McGarrahan's meticulous, incisive research -- she left journalism to become a professional private investigator after witnessing the execution -- contradicts Ms. Jacobs's story on almost every point. Ms. Jacobs, Tafero, and Rhodes existed in a murky underworld of violence, drug dealing, gun infatuation, and petty crime, McGarrahan said she found. By the time of the fatal encounter with the Florida state trooper Phillip Black and his visiting friend, Canadian constable Donald Irwin, Ms. Jacobs's charge sheet was already long: arrests for prostitution, forgery, illegal gun possession, contributing to the delinquency of a minor (her then-4-year-old son, Eric), and drug dealing. After the killings, a loaded handgun was found in her purse. Several weapons -- two 9-mm semiautomatic handguns, a .38-caliber Special revolver, a .22-caliber Derringer, a .32-caliber revolver -- were found in the various cars linked to Tafero and Rhodes, McGarrahan wrote. Two eyewitnesses, truckers who were at the scene of the killings, said in court testimony that Rhodes couldn't have been the shooter because they saw that his hands were in the air. Forensic evidence suggested that a Taser shot, setting off the volley of fatal gunfire between the two parties, came from the back of the car, where Ms. Jacobs was sitting with her children. McGarrahan posits that Ms. Jacobs may have at least fired the Taser, which she had purchased months earlier. 'The state's theory was that Sunny fired the Taser and the gun at Trooper Black while he was attempting to subdue Jesse,' McGarrahan wrote, and that 'Jesse grabbed the gun from Sunny and continued firing at both Trooper Black and Constable Irwin.' Advertisement According to a Florida Supreme Court opinion in the case, as Ms. Jacobs was being led away after her arrest, a state trooper asked her, 'Do you like shooting troopers?' Ms. Jacobs was reported to have responded, 'We had to.' When McGarrahan went to find Ms. Jacobs at her home in Ireland many years later, 'a small, plump, wrinkled, gray-haired woman in an oversized green sweater, sweatpants, and wire-rimmed glasses' appeared in the doorway. Ms. Jacobs was wary, and mute on the subject of the Taser. When McGarrahan told her that she was simply seeking to establish the truth about the case, Ms. Jacobs responded: 'I don't think you can know that. I don't think that's knowable.' Sonia Jacobs -- who was also known as Sonia Leigh Linder, Sonia Lee Jacobs, and Sonia Lee Jacobs Linder, according to McGarrahan -- was born on Aug. 24, 1947, in the Far Rockaway neighborhood of Queens. Her parents, Herbert and Bella Jacobs, owned a textile firm. Sunny, as she was known, grew up in Elmont on Long Island. She dropped out of college in 1965 and got married, with a wedding reception at the Tavern on the Green restaurant in Manhattan, McGarrahan wrote. By 1968 -- the state of her marriage at that point is unclear -- she was living with her young son in Miami in a house owned by her parents. Her life, before and after meeting Tafero, was 'drugs, drugs and more drugs,' one informant told McGarrahan. Advertisement In 1982, after the Florida Supreme Court had overturned Ms. Jacobs's death sentence and commuted it to life in prison, her parents were killed that year in a Pan Am plane crash in New Orleans. When she was released 10 years later -- the US Court of Appeals ordered that she be given a new trial, but prosecutors offered a plea deal instead -- Ms. Jacobs had already been the subject of the '20/20' segment. In the years that followed, she taught yoga and became increasingly sought after as a speaker for her views opposing the death penalty. She moved to Ireland sometime in the 2000s. In 2007, she published her autobiography, 'Stolen Time: One Woman's Inspiring Story as an Innocent Condemned to Death.' Facebook messages to her children, Eric Linder and ChrisTina Pafero, were not immediately answered. McGarrahan, reflecting on the saga that she had spent so many years uncovering, said in an interview that with Ms. Jacobs, 'the myth has become the truth.' 'She made herself into the victim,' McGarrahan added. 'It removes the actual victims.' This article originally appeared in
Daily Mirror
6 days ago
- General
- Daily Mirror
Death row survivor wrongfully imprisoned for 17 years dies in horror house fire
A survivor of Florida's death row has tragically died in a house fire - Sonia 'Sunny' Jacobs, who was wrongfully jailed for 17 years, died in a fire in Galway earlier this week A death row survivor who spent 17 years behind bars for a crime she didn't commit has tragically died in a house fire. Sonia 'Sunny' Jacobs was killed in Galway in the Republic of Ireland earlier this week, along with a man in his 30s understood to be her carer. They were both pronounced dead at the scene of the fatal fire at a bungalow at Gleann Mac Muireann near Casla in Connemara on Tuesday morning. The two are understood to have been the only people in the house at the time of the blaze. Police and Fire Services were alerted to the fire at around 6:20am on Tuesday and brought it under control. The bodies of Ms Jacobs and the man in his 30s were recovered from inside the property. Sunny spent nearly two decades on Florida's death row after she and her then partner were wrongfully sentenced to death by the Florida courts for the murder of two police men. A mother of two, Sunny spent 17 years behind bars for a crime she did not commit. Her passing was confirmed by the founder of Death Penalty Action in America Abraham J. Bonowitz. He told The Irish Mirror that he met Sunny a few months after she was freed following 17 years of wrongful incarceration in The Sunshine State. "I first met Sunny in 1993, just months after she was freed from 17 years of wrongful incarceration in Florida, including five years as the only woman on Florida's death row, after evidence of her innocence vacated her conviction,' Mr Bonowitz said in the statement. 'In the wake of injustice, Sunny used the remainder of her life to work to keep others from enduring wrongful incarceration, to help those freed from wrongful incarceration to heal, and to work to abolish the death penalty in the United States and worldwide.' He continued: "It was a great privilege to know Sunny, not only in the work that we shared, but as a true friend. One of my greatest honours was to be the person to drive her to visit the memorial to the victims of Flight 759, which crashed near the airport in New Orleans in 1982. We were together at the 2024 Annual Conference of The Innocence Network in New Orleans. It was the first time she was able to visit the site where her parents of blessed memory, Bella and Herbert Jacobs, died. Even in her old age, Sunny was constantly working to help others.' Sunny's late husband was Irish death row survivor Peter Pringle. They set up 'The Sunny Centre' to support people who had been victims of wrongful incarceration. The story of Sunny's plight was also told in books, plays and film, with her being played by Susan Sarandon in the TV film 'The Exonerated' in 2005. Director Micki Dickoff also put her career on hold for the 1996 film 'In the Blink of an Eye', with Mimi Rogers portraying Sunny. The film also told the story of her husband Jesse Tafero. Tafero died in 1990 during a brutal botched execution by electric chair that saw flames shoot out of his head. Mr Bonowitz added: 'Our last conversations were about how we can better assist such individuals in their latter years - particularly those who, like Sunny, received no compensation or even an official acknowledgement of their innocence.' He continued: 'My heart and prayers go out to her daughter, Christina, her son, Eric, to all who knew her personally, all who had the chance to hear her speak or know her story, and all who have been inspired by the example she set in how she lived and used her life to help others.'
Miami Herald
04-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
Karen Peterson Dancers' Forward Motion Festival: Champions of inclusion
Weeks before the sixth annual Forward Motion Dance Festival, Karen Peterson and a group of her dancers gathered for a rehearsal in her studio space in Kendall. One dancer set up a white partition while the others settled into place. As the music started, violinist Polina Mahova emerged first from the folded screen. Slowly, more dancers appeared and suddenly, chair dancer Adam Eckstat rolled onto the scene. The energy continued to shift as the dance progressed. The 14-minute 'In the Blink of an Eye' will be one of six dance works that is part of the weekend-long festival consisting of a full day of performances on Saturday, March 8, and a set of workshops on Sunday, March 9 at the Sandrell Rivers Theater. 'Throughout the festival, audiences will see a really broad spectrum of inclusive dance,' says Peterson. As it pertains to the all-new dance number, 'In the Blink of an Eye,' the seasoned choreographer explains her inspiration behind its origins. 'I was thinking a lot about immigration and the news that's going on in our atmosphere today,' says Peterson. 'And, you know, what if something drastic happens? In the blink of an eye, your whole life changes. I love that the dancers really internalize this fear in their performances.' She explains how the music is pivotal in the piece, which is why she brought in violinist and dancer Polina Mahova. As Mahova's violin strings vibrate, they help to dictate the emotions felt both on and off stage, according to Peterson. Although there will be a large screen in the background of the performance space with visuals flashing and propelling audiences through the story, the music and the dancers are what will guide the audience's journey. At first, the piece starts off light and cheerful before — suddenly — switching to a more dramatic and darker tune. 'My inspiration for this performance is Lindsay Sterling, a very talented violinist who also dances,' says Mahova. She mentions the relevance of the piece to today's state of affairs – natural disasters and wars. 'I think that this is something that everybody can relate to and it's really genuine.' This will be Mahova's first performance with the Miami-based dance company. 'Dancing is not new for me,' says Mahova. 'My mother (was) my teacher and I've been practicing it for many years.' The violinist, who recently moved to Miami from Israel, will be sharing the stage with her mother, Anna, who has been dancing with Karen Peterson Dancers for nearly two years. Another dancer sharing the stage with Mahova is Eckstat, who is both a wheelchair dancer and a drummer. Eckstat has been with the Miami-based dance company for many years and has performed at nearly all of the Forward Motion festivals. Despite his history with the company, the drummer admits, 'This is the first time I've ever done dance and drum together.' In the piece 'In the Blink of an Eye,' Eckstat uses his chair as an instrument and beats his drumsticks against the wheels as he works to match the pace of Mahova's violin. 'The dancing part, I do what Karen tells me to do,' he says. 'But the drumming part I put together myself, and then I blended it with Polina's violin.' One special aspect of this year's festival is the international collaboration with Sunsik Yoo and the Light on Friends dance company based in Seoul, South Korea. Karen Peterson Dancers performed its 'The Axis' at a festival in South Korea in late 2024. While representing the United States at the Korean International Accessible Dance Festival, Peterson met choreographer Sunsik Yoo and invited his company to attend Forward Motion. Yoo is one of four guest choreographers, which also include Erica Lessner from Brooklyn and Christina Acosta from Tampa. Another aspect of the Forward Motion festival is the interactive workshop. Whereas the performances are ticketed, the workshops are free to attend. Guests will be treated to a conversation with Miami dancer and choreographer Pioneer Winter as well as a movement class with Sunsik Yoo and his Light Sound Friends company, and a workshop with the Tampa-based REVolutions Dance. Peterson, who founded her dance company more than 35 years ago, reminisces on its humble beginnings. The dancer and choreographer has dedicated her life to the craft, specifically inclusive dance. While Peterson herself is not disabled, she says she was inspired to start an integrated dance company after attending workshops in San Francisco at the start of her career. 'They invited people with disabilities to be part of the workshops and that was in the '90s when the ADA laws were just starting to get federally mandated.' She acknowledges that people with disabilities have shown up more and more on dance stages throughout the world, which is what Peterson calls a movement in the United States. Once she opened her dance company, they were invited to perform worldwide. 'There was a high degree of curiosity about inclusive dance.' If you go: WHAT: Forward Motion Dance Festival WHERE: Sandrell Rivers Theater, 6103 NW 7th Ave., Miami WHEN: 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, March 8. Workshops, noon and 6 p.m. Sunday, March 9 COST: $20 for Saturday's performances, free for Sunday's workshop. Tickets at or INFORMATION: (305) 298-5879 or is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don't miss a story at
The Guardian
28-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘I spent 12 hours a day for 16 months with Gene Hackman – but never met him': The Conversation's Walter Murch pays tribute
I never formally met Gene Hackman. I glimpsed him once, in November 1972, when he bounded upstairs to the offices of American Zoetrope in San Francisco, but I didn't recognise him until he told the receptionist that he was here to see Mona Skager. Francis Ford Coppola's film The Conversation was about to start shooting in two weeks, and Mona was Francis's associate producer. I was to be the film's editor. That brief and solitary glimpse of Gene in real life was counterbalanced by 16 months of daily screen contact with Harry Caul, the character brought to life by Hackman. This was my first job as editor of a feature film, and I was in alternating states of excitement and terror. Previously, I had edited some commercials, a couple of short documentaries and one educational film. I had also done the sound design for The Rain People and The Godfather, Coppola's two previous feature films, as well as the sound design for George Lucas's feature THX 1138. But editing The Conversation was a big turn up the spiral for me, which explained the excitement. The terror was induced by the fact that this was the next film by the director who had just transfixed the world with The Godfather. If The Conversation failed, for whatever reason, much of the blame would fall on the shoulders of this young and inexperienced editor. The relationship between actors and film editors is a classic case of asymmetry: editors stare at actors 10 to 12 hours a day, sometimes more, and we microscopically study their every move, flinch, blink, gesture and inflection. We become actor-anthropologists, students of this strange tribe, and we inhale their rhythms which become second nature to us, and then translate them into the editing style and pacing of the film. In a certain sense, we know this narrow spectrum of an actor better than anyone – perhaps in some cases better than the actors themselves. If we later meet them in person, this asymmetry really makes itself felt; they frequently have no idea who we are, other than appendages of the director, but we have all that secret and microscopic knowledge: how they prefer to turn left rather than right, their characteristic way of hesitating before opening a door, how often they blink … There were many times, often at 3am in the morning, when Harry would push a button on his tape recorder, stopping it, and so closely did I identify with him that I would be amazed to find my KEM editing machine still running, having not obeyed Harry's command. During one session, another all-nighter, I finally noticed that very close to where I would decide to make a cut, Harry would blink. Was I controlling Harry, or was he controlling me? This confusion was ultimately resolved: the cut is a blink, and this realisation, triggered by Gene's performance, became one of the foundational ideas of my book on film editing, In the Blink of an Eye, first published in 1992. So in a very real sense, the integrity of Hackman's performance provided the metronomic spine which supported and guided me, often without my knowing it, to find the correct pacing for each scene, and then the right structure of the collection of those scenes in the finished film. I shudder to think what would have happened if Harry had been performed by someone else. So I was hit hard by the news of Gene's death for all kinds of reasons – I am a huge fan of his work across five decades of American cinema – but particularly because of the guidance and inspiration he gave me implicitly during the editing of The Conversation. I never had the opportunity to thank him personally for helping me to become the film-maker that I am today. So I do that now: 'Thank you, Gene.'
