Ersland Lashes Out From Prison Cell

By Jerry Bohnen/NewsRadio 1000 KTOK ~ The reality of spending the rest of his life in prison for murdering a 16-year old boy who tried to rob his pharmacy is setting in on Oklahoma City pharmacist Jerome Ersland.

But he still defends what he did in the spring of 2009 when he shot Antwun 'Speedy' Parker dead as the boy and another tried to hold up the store where Ersland worked.    

In a letter to KTOK News, Ersland says other inmates at the Joseph Harp Correctional can't believe he's in prison for what he did.   

"The inmates ask me what I am in for and I tell them 'for shooting an armed robber,' then they say 'that's okay, but why am I in prison.' They can't believe I am in for shooting an armed robber. I can't either."    

He went on to defend his shooting of the teenage robber. "The last words of "Speedy" were "we want all your f------- narcotics, all your f------ money, and then we are going to f------ kill all of you" and I had a new mother that was nursing a child to protect and her mother. So it was a kill them before they killed us situation," wrote Ersland.   

Ersland remains bitter about District Judge Ray Elliott and District Attorney David Prater, calling them crooked. He also noted how the judge would not allow 22 of his 23 witnesses to testify while he allowed Prater to keep all 26 of his. And Ersland noted that 78 of the 80 decisions went for the DA'.   

"Only a crooked DA and a crooked judge could have found me guilty. It's a sad day for the Okla. City justice system. I don't know how they can sleep at night."

(Editor's Note: Ersland's comments probably tell us all we know about his state of mind; Ray Elliott and David Prater have been called many things, but crooked is not among them. Quite the opposite. And it wasn't the judge and DA who found him guilty; it was a jury of 12 ordinary citizens.)

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