Sunny Jacobs’ death in Galway fire marks end of life shaped by wrongful conviction and resilience

Sunny Jacobs, exonerated after years on death row, rebuilt her life in Galway — only for tragedy to strike again

Sunny Jacobs who served 17 years in prison, including time on death row, after she was wrongfully convicted of the murder of a US police officer and a Canadian constable. Pictures: Leon Farrell/RollingNews.ie

As Sunny Jacobs sat in her tiny cell on death row, waiting to be executed for a crime she insists she did not commit, she decided the only way she could find some peace was to pretend she was a monk in a cave, and not a prisoner in a cell.

Every day, she would work on her mind, because that was all she had left that belonged to her.