May 17, 2004

Governor Rick Perry
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, TX 78711-2418
Fax (512) 463-1849

Dear Mr. Perry:

I am a writer living in Portland, Oregon. I am writing to plead with you to act to spare the life of Mr. Kelsey Patterson. I have read that Mr. Patterson suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. I myself suffer from mental illness and once was diagnosed with schizophrenia. I cannot help but identify with this man when I read about his deranged behavior. Without offering excuses for the crime he committed, I can tell you that he does not deserve to die for what he did. From reading an account of the crime, it sounds to me like he had no idea what he was doing.

I can tell you from my own personal experience that it is possible for a psychotic individual to do something wrong while believing in his conscience that it is absolutely the right thing to do. It happened to me. I know that there is no way Mr. Patterson is morally culpable for his crime. Please extend mercy to this man, I beg you. Do not commit a grave injustice before God in the name of justice. If the victims’ families truly understood Mr. Patterson’s situation, they would understand.

I am copying Mr. Gerald Garret of the Board of Pardons and Paroles with this letter.

Yours truly,

Brent Anthony Schefter

cc: Mr. Gerald Garret, Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles