Deepertruth: The Virgin Mary and the Conversion of Claude Newman Story

This story begins with a prayer of dedication during World War II when Fr. O'Leary found himself in a dangerous situation in Holland. Father O'Leary's prayer was that if he survived this war, he would build a Church in honor of Our Lady, the Virgin Mary.

As time and space had come and gone, Father Malcolm O'Leary did survive the war and was in the United States serving in Vicksburg Mississippi. The Virgin Mary never forgot Father O'Leary's promise even when the good priest at least for a while, did forget. As the result of the following story, this church was dedicated in 1947 where it stands today!

Our Lady literally begins this story with a very unique and powerful message for all to hear. This is where a death-row inmate, Claude Newman (1923 - 1944), the son of a black sharecropper from Stuttgart Arkansas who was raised by his grandmother, Ellen Newman of Bovina Mississippi comes into focus.

In 1939, Sid Cook took Mrs. Newman for his wife who repeatedly abused her. On December 19, 1942, Claude Newman took revenge and killed Mr. Cook for all the abuse. The law finally caught up and captured Claude Newman (January 1943) who did confess to the crime of murder. Being found guilty, Claude Newman was sentenced to die in the electric chair scheduled to be executed on January 20, 1944.