What if you knew that some murder victims' family members are themselves against the death penalty?

Marietta Jaeger's daughter, Susie, was abducted and killed at the age of 7 during a family camping trip in Montana. As the search for her daughter went on, Jaeger was consumed by rage. She was sure that, given the chance, she could kill the kidnapper with her own hands. However, she came to the conclusion that, "were I to give in to that kind of mindset, it would be my undoing."

One year after he had taken Susie, the kidnapper called. Marietta spoke to him with compassion and patience. Her concern kept him on the phone long enough to provide the police with the clues needed to track him down. Despite her family's tragedy, she remains committed to forgiveness and has been an ardent opponent of the death penalty for over 25 years.

"Loved ones, wrenched from our lives by violent crime, deserve more beautiful, noble and honorable memorials than premeditated, state-sanctioned killings. The death penalty only creates more victims and more grieving families. By becoming that which we deplore — people who kill people — we insult the sacred memory of all our precious victims."
—Marietta Jaeger-Lane

In a famous case, the parents of hate-crime murder victim Matthew Shepard agreed to a life sentence without parole for killer Aaron McKinney. Dennis Shephard, Matthew's father, was not opposed to the death penalty, but he believed that allowing a media-saturated execution to overshadow the good life of his son was unacceptable. He stated in court, "I would like nothing better than to see you die, Mr. McKinney. However, this is the time to begin the healing process. I'm going to grant you life, as hard as it is for me to do so, because of Matthew."