Mum-of-two to marry death row inmate who murdered and mutilated gay man
A mum-of-two is to marry a death row inmate who murdered and mutilated a gay man.
Jane Quantrill has never kissed, held hands or even met Robert Van Hook, who was convicted of murdering David Self after picking him up in a gay bar.
Initially pen pals, the couple plan to get married in July next year, the same month Van Hook is scheduled to be executed.
Van Hook was convicted of murdering and mutilating David Self after going to a gay bar to find someone to rob.
Court records revealed that on February 18, 1985, Van Hook went to the bar in Cincinnati where he lured Mr Self to his house.
There he strangled him, stabbed him and mutilated his body before fleeing to Florida. Tracked down six weeks later, he was convicted of murder and sent to Death Row.
Speaking to the Mirror Online, Jane, who now lives in Australia, said she was aware of Van Hook’s crime, but planned to marry him anyway.
“[Bobby] told me all about his crime and is deeply remorseful. He’s been there for 31 years,” she said.
“Our letters and calls brighten up our lives. We plan to marry next July.”
Physical contact between Death Row inmates and their visitors is prohibited, so the first time the 55-year-old will be able to touch her fiancé is when he is dead.
Jane, however, still believes that there is a chance his conviction will still be overturned.
She added that her daughter has been “supportive” of the relationship, but her son was “uncertain”.
Van Hook was supposed to be executed last year but the conviction was stayed, after an investigation into another inmate’s death was launched.
He is now scheduled to die on July, 26, 2017.
He has appealed against his sentence numerous times, which have been continually rejected by the courts.
