A Life in the Balance

Sentenced to death in 1965 at age 20 for an unpremeditated murder during a bungled holdup of a convenience store, Billy Wayne Sinclair spent his first seven prison years on death row. When the death penalty was abolished, his sentence was commuted to life. Three-and-a-half decades later, Billy Wayne is still behind bars -- feared by many politicians and prison officials for his well-known incorruptibility and unrelenting crusade for prison reform.This is his unvarnished memoir. It begins with an almost unbearable account of his early years, then takes us behind the harsh metal doors of Angola State Penitentiary to reveal the brutal truth of life inside: corruption, betrayal, rape, and murder.