Paula Cooper was 16 when she was sentenced to death row for murdering a 78-year-old Bible school teacher. She and a few friends told Ruth Pelke they were interested in a Bible school lesson, and then stabbed her 33 times with a butcher knife while Pelke prayed the Lord’s Prayer—the teens drove off in Pelke’s car with $10. After they were caught, Cooper’s controversial death sentence resulted in international outrage and even a plea for mercy from the Pope. And now, nearly 30 years later, Cooper is being released from prison and given a second shot. “There are second chances,” says her sister, Rhonda Labroi. “It seems like God has given her another chance. I think if people give her a second chance, she’ll do fine” …
