“I could not hear the words,” the officer admitted. “But whatever she told him changed that man completely.”
Gaines stared at the screen showing Avery’s face and called the Attorney General directly.
“I am requesting a seventy two hour stay of execution because there may be new evidence,” he said.
The prosecutor on the other end sounded furious and asked if the warden had lost his mind since the warrant had already been signed and the procedure scheduled. Gaines answered calmly that he would not allow the execution to proceed until the meaning of that whisper was understood.
After a long pause the official finally agreed. “You have seventy two hours. If nothing comes from this, your career is finished.”