Character Overview
Prisoner 97B642. Convicted December 6, 1997 - Murder in the first degree. Sentence: Death. Sentence commuted in 1999, then commutation of sentence revoked in 2000.
Shirley Bellinger is the first and only woman to be incarcerated at Oswald. Sentenced to die for murdering her daughter, she drove her car into a lake with her daughter in the back seat, then swam out as the car sank, leaving her daughter to drown. She swears it was an accident, but that it nevertheless "had to happen".
While she keeps mostly to herself and has a shy, charming demeanor, she shows some signs of psychological instability; shortly after her arrival, she exposes herself to fellow prisoner Timmy Kirk and essentially prostitutes herself to inmates and guards alike in return for preferential treatment. She is very polite with everyone and hardly gets angry or swears. She believes she is doing God's will, and it is suggested that she is a devout Christian.
Along with James Robson, Bellinger is one of two regulars who never lived in Emerald City. During her time on Death Row, the regular characters who have made some sort of contact with her are Leo Glynn, Tim McManus, Sister Peter Marie Reimondo, Father Ray Mukada, Dr. Gloria Nathan, Diane Whittlesey, Simon Adebisi, and Vern Schillinger.
Read more about this topic: Shirley Bellinger
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“The reason why parents mistreat their children has less to do with character and temperament than with the fact that they were mistreated themselves and were not permitted to defend themselves.”
—Alice Miller (20th century)