It would be easy — expected, even — for Mary Johnson to hate Oshea Israel. After all, he killed Johnson's only son, in 1993. He went to prison for that — and toward the end of his sentence, he become a man with whom Mrs. Johnson could make peace.

He agreed to her repeated requests to see him at Stillwater Prison. She wanted to know whether he had the same mindset as the 16-year-old boy who had appeared in the courtroom years before. He didn't.

"I instantly knew that all that anger and the animosity, all the stuff I had in my heart for 12 years — I knew it was over, that I had totally forgiven (him)."

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