Jayden Sheppard
Staff Writer
Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, the middleweight boxer who spent 19 years behind bars due to a wrongful triple-murder conviction, and whose story inspired a film where Carter was played by Denzel Washington, died at age 76, in Toronto on Sunday (April 20th).
It was John Artis, a longtime friend and caregiver, and was also falsely convicted for the same crimes as Carter, who told The Canadian Press that Carter had died in his sleep. In March of 2012 that it was revealed he had terminal prostate cancer, which was the cause of his death.
In 1963, Ring Magazine listed him as one of its top 10 middleweight contenders for the year. Only three years later he was arrested for a triple-homicide in Paterson, New Jersey. Although there was little physical evidence, no fingerprints taken at the crime scene, and a failure of any witnesses to identify Carter or Artis, both were tried and convicted twice in 1967 and 1976. Carter, 48 years old, was freed without bail in November 1985.
Bob Dylan’s “Hurricane”, became a popular hit, and was used as part of Carter’s public campaign during his second trial. The song, which goes for over eight minutes, was one of Dylan’s few protest songs of the 1970’s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr8Wn1Mwwwk
Carter went on to be the executive director of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted, and also served as a motivational speaker.
Courtesy Of Sports IllustratedWhen told of Carter’s death, Denzel Washington said: “God Bless Robin Carter and his tireless fight to ensure justice for all.”
Keep Up With PopWrapped On The Web!
Author
