Mark Lawlor

Reprieve's EC Project is assisting on the case of Mark Lawlor who was recently sentenced to death in Virginia.

Forty-five year old Mark was arrested in October of 2008 for the murder of Genevieve Orange in Fairfax County, Virginia. Mark was born in the United States but his mother, Frances, was born in Austria where she lived before moving to the UK when she was nine, when she became a British citizen. Reprieve is working with the British government to secure Mark's British citizenship and provide assistance as he moves forwards in his appeals.

Mark's early life was marred by tragedy. Before his first birthday Mark contracted Stevens Johnson Syndrome, which causes severe scarring and possible brain damage. Things only got worse. Mark was subjected to extreme sexual, physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his family and neighbours. When he was just five years old Mark's father said that he was 'unlovable.'

Having been sentenced to death Mark will now be moved to Sussex State I Prison in Virginia. The conditions here are harsh and isolating. Mark will be restricted to a single, concrete cell with a solid steel door for almost 24 hours a day. He will eat all meals alone in his cell. The only times he will be taken from this cell will be to shower and to spend occasional one-hour periods outside in a single, solitary cage no bigger than his cell.