A woman revealed the moment she fell in love with her death row inmate before falling into a life of drugs.
In 2000, Benjamin Ritchie was driving a stolen van when a police officer spotted him and gave chase.
After wrecking the van, Ritchie fired five shots. One of the bullets killed the policeman.
Ritchie was convicted and sentenced to death and held in the Indiana State Penitentiary until his scheduled execution.
Richie, who was on death row, appeared in a YouTube documentary where he caught the attention of Ivana, then 24.
She decided to write him a letter and a romance blossomed from there. Eventually, she decided to fly from her home in Sweden to the United States to meet Richie.
The two met more than 10 times and fell in love. They have been dating for 4 years now.
Ivana describes Richie as funny and positive.
“Whenever I went to see him, I would schedule the whole week so I could see him all week,” she said. soft white abdomen.
“Since he was a visitor from overseas, I spent the entire day with him until 4pm.”
Ivana, now 31, was 24 when she met Richie. She said the moment she looked into his eyes for the first time, she knew she wanted to be with him forever.
“I couldn’t imagine life without him,” she said. “He either stayed with him or died with him.”
Ivana, who was born in Bosnia before her family moved to Sweden, was no stranger to the prison system until she met Ritchie. Her own father spent time in prison when she was young.
Ivana said that throughout the couple’s conversation, the plan was to instruct a young woman to hijack a helicopter so he could escape.
They made the plan using secret messages and hidden cell phones, which she said was “great” because it meant they talked all the time.
Ivana knew they would never have a family, but in her heart she was free to spend the week together until the police found her and maybe killed her. Admitted.
“In the end, he said he didn’t want to risk my life and that he could run away,” she said. “At that time, I went crazy, because all my plans in life were to be with him.
“When he said that, I started using opiates. I got a taste of opiates when I had surgery, and I continued to do it. I met drug dealers who sold heroin, but… , it was much cheaper than the drugs I was taking.”
She began dating a man to obtain drugs and they continued to date for two years until he settled down and stopped selling drugs.
Not wanting to quit herself, Ivana sought out drug contacts of her own and tried to sell to support her habit. However, she ran out of money and drugs because her people did not pay her.
Ivana’s life remained in turmoil until she became pregnant with her daughter Iris, which she says changed her life and helped her “rebuild my life.” She is now clean and sober.
She said she can’t be sure if Richie is still alive because it brings back memories of their time together and all the emotions she had.
Ivana said she loved him even though deep down she knew their relationship wouldn’t work out. She wanted to die next to him.
“That’s why I can’t look for him – I promised I would be there.” [for his execution]” she said, adding that her biggest problem in life was following her heart instead of her head.
But for now, he said he is focused on raising Iris and giving her everything she deserves.
Ivana said she had never met a man like Richie until now.
Richie remains on death row.
