WITNESS TO MY BROTHER’S EXECUTION: About the Author

Gina Farthing, 44, has been the features editor at The News Virginian since September 2004. She was a Navy brat born in Morocco, was raised on Long Island, N.Y., and now lives in Waynesboro. She has worked at the Danville Register & Bee and Reidsville (N.C.) Review/Eden Daily News. She is married to Jim Farthing, a corrections officer, and has two grown children.

Why I told my story

My reason for sharing my brother’s story has nothing to do with courage. I don’t believe what I’ve done is brave.

It is a story that needed to be told; people needed to know there was more to it than what was in the news reports. They needed to know about the forgotten victims - all the families of the people who commit these type of crimes. These families often bear a greater punishment than the guilty. I hope through this story to give them validation for their unconditional love in the face of overwhelming adversity.