Norton and Bradley disagree on several things. Bradley is a sports fanatic, especially fond of football. Norton could care less about sports. They also disagree on the death penalty. "Most of my inmate friends believe in the death penalty," she says.
"Yeah," Bradley says. "If a person does a heinous enough crime, I think they should be put to death."
If Knighton dies in Oklahoma's execution chamber, as the drugs take effect and he closes his eyes, he wants to be looking at Sue Norton. "All my life all I've seen are hard faces," he says. "When I die I want to see something besides that."
Knighton seems to remain amazed at Norton's friendship and forgiveness. He pauses when asked if he could forgive someone who killed Norton. "The only thing I ever had in life is Sue," the man who was convicted of killing Sue Norton's daddy says quietly. "Could I forgive someone who hurt Sue? I think it would take a lot of praying."
Knighton doesn't smile often. He is somber. His cell mate offered to teach him the alphabet, but he doesn't want to learn."
Knighton, whose case is on appeal, admits he has made mistakes. If he could talk to a young boy who was headed down the same path in life, he would. "Next time, he goes and looks in a mirror, take a good look, because he might see me staring back," Knighton says.
Knighton doesn't want publicity. He does it to help Norton's cause. He does it because she believes the death penalty is wrong.
Sue Norton was shocked when Kansas passed the death penalty in 1994. "When Kansas accepted the death penalty I went into a depression," Norton says. "I felt like I had been punched in the belly. I felt betrayed that they would do that to me. I wanted Kansas to be better than that. It's going to create so many victims. We're not just taking a person out of society, so he can't kill again. We're creating many more victims."
Sue says if the time comes, she will watch Knighton die. She will stand on the side of the glass and watch the drugs go into his arm. She will be there because he needs her.
This death will be more difficult for her than her daddy's, she says, because Knighton's murder will be premeditated. "How could I ever send him to his death without being there to support him?" Norton says. "I'm his only friend."