My Spiritual Beliefs…
I believe that the Bible is the word of God.
I believe Jesus Christ is the true son of God who came into this world and died for our sins, and
that He rose from the dead on the third day.
I believe in water baptism and the Trinity God—the Father, God—the Son and God—the Holy
Spirit.
I truly believe in the in-dwelling of the Spirit of God.
All scripture is taken from the Life Application Bible, a revised edition of the Living Bible.
My Cristian Testimony to the world at hand.
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Part 1
First of all let me introduce myself to you. My name is George J. Porter, born in Moscow,
Idaho December 8, 1956. I am currently 35 years old. I lived in Dreary, Idaho for the first 7 years
of my life. Then in 1963 my parents moved to south eastern Washington, to a small town called
Waitsburg where I attended grade school and three years of high school. I am a high school dropout.
I began using alcohol at the age of 12, by the age of 14 I was well on the way to being a
full-fledged alcoholic. I drank some sort of alcohol every day because in my mind I thought I
needed the alcohol to get through each day.
I began to experience all different kinds of drugs at the age of 16, illegal drugs at that. I
was into PCP, pot, cocaine, LSD, and hard liquor—these were all my specialties. I not only used
the illegal drugs, but I pushed them too. I had become an alcoholic, drug pusher, and addict.
(Proverbs 23:29-35) “Whose heart is filled with anguish and sorrow? Who is always fighting and
quarreling? Who is the man with blood-shot eyes and many wounds? It is the one who spends
long hours in the taverns, trying out new mixtures. Don’t let the sparkle and the smooth taste of
strong drink deceive you. For in the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. You will
see hallucinations and have delirium tremens, and you will say foolish silly things that would
embarrass you to no end when sober. You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea, clinging to a
swaying mast. And afterwards you will say, ‘I didn’t even know they beat me up... Let’s go and
have another drink.’” (LAB)
The above scriptures give a person the general picture of what alcohol and drugs once did
to me.
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I got married at the age of 19 to Oma M. Ward who I had dated for three years prior to
our marriage in 1976. Two years after we were married our first son was born, George Anthony
and two years later our second son was born, Delbert Eugene.
Oma was able to get me off of the LSD, PCP, and cocaine, but the alcohol and marijuana
was a lost cause. I tried many times to quit but it never lasted long.
I always ended right back up drinking and using marijuana heavily. I became very
abusive toward Oma, my personal family, and friends. I was never home, I was always out
drinking, getting high and chasing women, cheating on Oma every chance I got. Finally Oma got
tired of my crazy lifestyle and divorced me. Out marriage lasted a total of 7 years. I can thank
God that neither one of our two boys suffered health damage from my heavy usage of alcohol
and drugs. Oma was a good mother to the boys and still is, as well as a good wife to me during
our marriage, but I blew things, instead of trying to help myself, I just continued to go bad. I
went through four other women the same way I did my marriage to Oma. One of the four
women, Valanda, had a son by me, in fact the boy is my third son, his name is Clinton James, he
also never suffered health damage from my heavy usage of drugs and alcohol. What a blessing
from God.
(Proverbs 6:32-33) “But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys his own
soul. Wounds and constant disgrace are his lot.” (LAB)
The above scripture shows that I was an utter fool to commit adultery against my wife
and it also shows the disgrace I went through by ending my marriage in divorce.
(Proverbs (3:30-32)) “Don’t get into needless fights. Don’t envy violent men. Don’t copy their
ways, for such men are an abomination to the Lord, but He gives His friendship to the godly.”
(LAB)
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The above scripture shows that my abusive behavior towards my wife, personal family,
friends, and other female relationships was an abomination to the Lord.
I found myself many times after my divorce being arrested for DWI’s, drug possession,
and domestic violence on the average of once or twice every three months. The courts, my
family, wife, and friends all begged and pleaded with me to go and get help for my problems, but
I just laughed at them all and went on doing my own thing. That was my first big mistake, I
should have listened and I would not be sitting where I am today on death row.
I have no one to blame but myself for my bad past. I had a lot of chances to clean up my
past life and I blew most of them. When I decided to clean up my past life style it was a little too
late. I already had a bad past of drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and abusive behavior problems
towards other people. With that sort of a past that is what put me on death row.
(Luke 12:58-59) “If you meet your accuser on the way to court, try to settle the matter before it
reaches the judge lest he sentence you to prison, for if that happens to you, you won’t be free
again until the last penny is paid in full.” (LAB)
The above scripture shows that I didn’t deal very well with my adversaries and is why I
was in and out of jail so much.
In June of 1988 I moved back to a small community called Kamiah, Idaho. There I met a
young lady named Theresa that I began dating. She was very special to me and we both shared a
special kind of love for each other and talked about marriage in the future, the spring of 1989.
Theresa had gotten me to quit using marijuana all together and was trying to get me to quit the
usage of alcohol also.
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In the first part of December 1988, I was called home by my mother, Violet Porter,
because my dad, George D. Porter, had suffered a massive heart attack and was not expected to
live at the time.
About three weeks later the authorities from Kamiah and Nezperce, Idaho came to
Washington and notified me that they had found Theresa murdered in her home. I became very
upset with what the authorities had told me that happened to Theresa. I was told that I was a
suspect and that I would have to undergo a regular homicide investigation where I was dating
Theresa and knew her real well. The authorities began by asking me my whereabouts for the
entire month of December 1988. I told them every place I had been and gave them names of
people who could verify the information given to them. The authorities then asked me about my
past life history, so I told them and didn’t try to hide anything from them because I knew all they
had to do was pull a FBI rap sheet on me. Secondly, I had no reason to be dishonest with them.
I firmly believed that I would be cleared as a suspect when the homicide investigation was
completed. On June 13, 1989 I was charged with first degree murder in connection with
Theresa’s death. My attorney, Bill Longeteig and I hired a private investigator, Monte Spears to
look deeper into the case. Monte interviewed 40 to 50 witnesses and one which was a prior
boyfriend of Theresa’s, Dale Cooper, on July 28, 1989. This interview resulted in a full
confession to Theresa’s murder. My attorney, Bill, and my investigator, Monte, and I went to
court several times and presented the confession with all the corroborating evidence which
completely exonerated me from the murder at hand. We moved the court several times to dismiss
the murder charge against me, but the court refused and held me illegally charged. They got a
conviction at the trial and later sentenced me to death and let Dale Cooper go scott free. The
State did not have one piece of physical evidence to use against me at the trial. My case was
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based on strictly circumstantial evidence, which was my past life history, which the State used to
obtain an illegal conviction for first degree murder against me. For my appeals I got two new
attorneys, Bill Fitzgerald and James Siebe. Both attorneys have said and feel my case will be
remanded for a new trial. I sure have a lot to be thankful for to God and I have strong faith that I
will be found innocent this time around at a new trial and be able to return to society by God’s
great mercy and grace.
During my stay at the county jail in 1989, two born again Christians visited the jail on a
weekly basis for church services on Sunday. Their names were Vernon L. Kennedy and Roy
Pethal. On November 5, 1989, Vern and Roy came back to my cell and began talking to me
about Christ Jesus and His love for me. They both expressed to me that no matter what I had
done wrong in life, that the Lord Jesus still loved me and would forgive me for all my sins if I
would just repent and confess my sins to God and agree with God that I had sinned against Him.
They then told me that the Lord Jesus would give me rest from all of my troubles throughout life,
if I would just turn over all of my troubles to Him to handle and forgive all of the people who
had come against me down life’s rugged road. I can assure anyone who reads this testimony that
I was headed straight for hell and there was no mistake about it.
As Vern and Roy talked with me, a number of God’s precious scriptures were quoted to
me from His word as evidence to back up the conversation with me about the Lord. The
scriptures are as follows:
(1 John 1:9) “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.” (LAB)
(Matthew 11:28) “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest.” (LAB)
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(Romans 6:23) “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord.” (LAB)
(Romans 5:8-9) “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. Much more then being justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath
through Him.” (LAB)
(John 1:12) “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on His name.” (LAB)
(Acts 3:19) “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.” (LAB)
(2 Corinthians 7:10) “For God sometimes uses sorrow in our lives to help us turn from sin and
seek eternal life. We should never regret His sending it. But the sorrow of the man who is not a
Christian is not the sorrow of true repentance and does not prevent eternal death.” (LAB)
After reviewing God’s precious scriptures, the evidence about God was quite convincing
and I realized that salvation was within arm’s reach. I was thrilled to give my life and problems
to the Lord to handle and run for me. Before Vern and Roy left me that day, they prayed with me
and led me to the Lord. I accepted the Lord Jesus into my heart and life as my personal Lord and
Savior and forgave the people who had come against me and confessed all of my sins to God and
agreed with Him that I had sinned against Him. From that very day a spiritual and physical
healing began in my sinful and diseased body and is still going on right up to this very day. I can
never thank and praise God enough for what He has done for me. He has taken away all of the
pain, bitterness and hate that was once within me. He has taught me to love my enemies and to
be at peace with them as well as teaching me to love, care, and share with others in need.
(Proverbs 25:15) “Be patient and you will win, for a soft tongue can break hard bones.” (LAB)
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(Matthew 6:3-4) “But when you do a kindness to someone, do it secretly—don’t tell your left
hand what your right hand is doing and your heavenly Father will reward you.” (LAB)
(Matthew 5:44-45) “But I say, love your enemies, pray for those that persecute you. In that way
you will be acting as true sons of your Father in heaven.” (LAB)
(Matthew 6:33) “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” (LAB)
(Matthew 16:24) “Jesus said, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up
his cross and follow Me.” (LAB)
I have found as a follower of Jesus Christ that I or anyone else must put God first in our
lives and seek to obey all of the Lord’s commands, and do only the things that are pleasing to
Him. This may seem hard to do, but if the spirit of God dwells in you, you will have the power to
fulfill the scriptures above.
Shortly after my conversation I began reading the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament. I
came across a very precious promise in the first chapter which is a promise to people who turn to
God for the forgiveness of their sins. (Isaiah 1:18) “Come, let’s talk this over, says the Lord; no
matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can take it out and make you as clean as freshly fallen
snow. Eben if you are stained as red as crimson, I can make you white as wool.” (LAB)
After reading the above verse a sense of peace fell upon my inner being that I never in my entire
life felt before, this inner peace comes from the Lord Jesus Christ and it has never left me. I
certainly thank and praise the Lord for counting me worthy to suffer for His names sake. Always
remember that God love you no matter what you may have done wrong.
(Romans 3:23) For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (LAB)
It is my prayer through Jesus’s name that my experiences will turn others to God who
read this testimony and the ones suffering from alcohol and drug abuse and abusive behavior
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problems, as you can see it took only a bad past to put me on death row so change your life now
while you have the chance to do so.
Part 2
I am now 57 years old putting finishing touches on this testimony.
At last after spending 21 years on death row, my case was taken back and redone due to
DNA testing that was done to show I was not the actual person responsible for the crime against
Theresa. The old judgments were vacated the charges reduced to 2nd degree murder without
premeditation. The state of Idaho and it’s attorneys drew up a plea and sentencing agreement and
stated to me and my counsels take the deals offered or an appeal will be taken to obtain reversal
of the new trial orders issued on June 21st, 2010. They would have sought the old judgment to be
reinstated. Needless to say I took the deals offered and closed the case forever. I spent another
3.5 years in a medium/minimum security prison before being civilly and criminally freed from
prison on 12/05/2013.
I truly seen my prayers to God answered and blessings being exhibited to me by my
counselor, my family, and most of all though, Star Project and its Director Glenna R. Awbrey.
The help for which I have received—advice, kindness, love for a fellow man—in helping with
my transition back into society. Truly God enabled these blessings to come through people who
serve him daily. I would have been lost without these people’s assistance. I was released from
prison on 12/05/2013 with $84.00 in the pocket by the Idaho authorities. They offered me
nothing merely because I choose to top out my sentence of 25 years. How sad it was, here I had
no revocational programming offered to me at all.
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But all said and done I am succeeding in society because of a loving family, people like
Glenna and her staff who have supported me and assisted me in being successful in my
transition. I can’t be more thankful.
My advice to fellow prisoners is don’t wait to begin changing your life tomorrow, it
could be too late. If you have a past history of crime against you there’s a chance that you could
fall and be a victim of illegal prosecution that could take years of your life, friends, family from
you. Don’t be that victim like me. I wish you all well in making changes to your lives. It’s wise
to allow Jesus Christ to walk the high road of trials with you during this life, failure is ultimately
lurking around the corner if you go it alone.
May the grace, mercy, and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with
you always.
Sincerely,
In His Service
George Porter
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