Paul William Scott has been sitting on Florida’s death row for 31 years.
In this time, he has been married and divorced two times—his first wife being country singer Susan Stryker, who became involved after writing a song in Scott’s behalf—and has had a book written about his case titled A Circle of Blood.
According to the Justice for Provably Innocent Paul W. Scott Committee, Fr. Ed McElduff and many others, Scott has been wrongfully accused and “is truly and provably innocent.”
Eight of Scott’s original jurors have sworn affidavits expressing concern about information that was not revealed to them during the 1979 trial, along with David Ross, Scott’s former prosecutor, who in 1994 appealed for clemency for Scott, feeling the final sentence was unjust.
In his affidavit to the Court in 1990 Rick Kondian, the man who was with Scott on the night of the murder, wrote, “Paul never intended to kill Alessi or anybody that night and did not intend to harm anybody. He never did murder anybody.” Also, in a letter written to Scott’s sister, Valerie, he wrote, “Paul didn’t do the actual killing.”
After hiring David Ross, the country’s top criminal defense attorney in the 1970s, Kondian pleaded guilty to second degree murder, received 45 years in prison and served 14 years before being released in 1994, while Scott received the death penalty.
Scott has survived five death warrants and has had numerous appeals but continues to sit in prison.
Those who are in favor of Scott’s death penalty have made the argument that several of the men’s statements over the years have been inconsistent with each other and Kondian’s words are being misconstrued.
Paul Scott is not innocent until the court deems him so, but Scott’s most involved advocates, McElduff, a former Catholic Pennsylvania priest and his Justice for Provably Innocent Paul W. Scott Committee, who for years have visited the prisoner in person, are convinced.
“It is all stunning and shocking and should be an example of the worst travesty of a Florida criminal trial by both the prosecution and public defender,” said Dianne Skripek, McElduff’s assistant and leader of the Justice.
Spending 30-plus years on death row as a potentially innocent man is just the tip of the iceberg of Scott’s life experiences.
Scott was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and after toxic exposure and frontal lobe damage, has an I.Q. of 69, which puts him in the spectrum of being mentally disabled.
Scott lived with his father in a state of constant confusion and chaos, switching between different stepmothers and homes across the states.
After suffering years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse by his father, he changed his name from George Cook, Jr., to Paul Scott. With nowhere to turn, he began experimenting with drugs at age 11, and was using heroin by 15.
Scott first befriended Kondian in Fort Lauderdale. In 1979, Scott, then 22, accompanied the 18-year-old Kondian to James Alessi’s house, a man that Kondian had met the night prior.
The young men were visiting Alessi’s home in West Palm to buy and use drugs. While Scott was in another part of the house, Kondian claims a naked Alessi tried to rape him. Scott heard Kondian’s cry for help and rushed to his side, where both the young men beat Alessi with anything they could find.
They were both accused of bludgeoning Alessi to death.
However, in a 1996 letter written to the Palm Beach Post, Scott claims Alessi was alive when he bolted out the door after the electrical cord that he used to tie up Alessi sparked.
He said Kondian then killed Alessi with a champagne bottle. A bloody circle was found at the scene of the crime—hence the title of Bob Pauley’s novel A Circle of Blood—but a used champagne bottle was never found.
Instead, jurors at Scott’s trial were told Scott killed Alessi by hitting him with a heavy object and that the murder was predetermined.
Five years later, a medical examiner’s affidavit stated he never testified what object was used to kill Alessi, and he was never asked whether the fatal blow came from a left- or a right-handed person.
Despite this, prosecutor Ken Selvig told the jury the blow came from a left-handed person. Kondian was right-handed. Scott was left-handed.
Currently, McElduff and the Justice are looking for the right attorney.
“It wouldn’t take much; it doesn’t have to be any dream team,” Skripek said. “They can look right at it and say, ‘I can’t believe this man is in jail, let alone on death row.’”
McElduff said even the Dean of the College of Law at Notre Dame can agree. The college may be a candidate for representing Paul Scott in a possible future trial.
“We need an attorney who will face up to the facts, have the courage to follow through and challenge the determination of the state,” McElduff said. “Paul’s former attorneys have lacked these characteristics.”
Skripek and McElduff said they are feeling very hopeful at the moment, especially due to the recent Florida Innocence Commission, which consists of a group of vindicates that will be reviewing the high number of Florida’s exonerees.
Father Mac and the Justice see Paul Scott’s case as setting an innocent man free, but they are hoping it will also change aspects of Florida’s judicial system.
“Paul Scott is truly the poster person for why the death penalty needs to be buried,” Skripek said. “It’s not the answer for victims, for their families who suffer, and certainly not for taxpayers of Florida.”