It was the Police there to arrest her husband for kidnapping. He was tried and sentenced to 11 years in prison, leaving Verna on the outside with four children.
Five years into her journey she connected with other woman going through the same thing, and in 1988 Verna used her experience to found Pillars, an organisation that supports the children and families of prisoners.
Verna has since dedicated her life to that cause, helping the forgotten part of the criminal justice system – the families.
She’s detailed her experiences in her memoir, The Invisible Sentence, and joined Francesca Rudkin to discuss her story.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.