Elmo Patrick Sonnier

Elmo Patrick Sonnier (February 21, 1950 – April 5, 1984) was a convicted murderer and rapist who was executed by electrocution at Angola (correctly known as Louisiana State Penitentiary) in Louisiana on April 5, 1984. Sonnier, a troubled youth with a past riddled in criminal activity, received along with his brother Eddie James Sonnier a sentence of death on April 25, 1978 for the November 5, 1977 rape and murder of Loretta Ann Bourque, 18, and the murder of David LeBlanc, 16. Sonnier's presence on Louisiana's Death Row came to the attention of Sister Helen Prejean when she was asked to write to death row inmates as part of her Order's community outreach program. He became the first of many death row inmates to receive her counsel and Sr. Prejean subsequently became a prominent anti-death penalty activist. He also became the subject of Prejean's best-selling book Dead Man Walking. The book was adapted to the big screen with the Academy-Award winning film of the same name, and its lead character, Matthew Poncelett, was based on an amalgam of both Sonnier and Robert Lee Willie, another inmate for whom Sister Helen Prejean was spiritual advisor. Sean Penn portrayed the Sonnier/Willie-inspired character of "Matthew Poncelett", and earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance.