Wrongful convictions and miscarriages of justice have given rise to some memorable works of fiction over the years, whether it’s The Fugitive TV series, and subsequent movie, Stephen King’s The Green Mile, or the much loved Shawshank Redemption, starring Tim Robbins.

All too often, however, wrongful convictions are the stuff of real life. As recently as 2014, one study demonstrated that at least 4% of all of those on death row in the United States are innocent of the crimes for which they were sentenced. And given that around 8,000 people have been put on death row since the 1970s, the numbers of wrongful convictions are frightening.

On Today with Sean O’Rourke, one human voice behind the statistics told his story.

“I refused to lament anything or be full of gripes. I was trying very hard to accept my death, even though I didn’t do the murder. I had one plan only, I wanted to make myself as lovable as I could when they executed me.”

Nick Yarris was sent to death row at the age of 21, wrongly convicted of rape and murder, and spent over two decades in prison for a crime he did not commit. Much of that time was spent in solitary confinement until the results of a DNA test finally set him free.

Nick has now written a book about his life called 'The Fear of 13 – Countdown to Execution: My Fight for Survival on Death Row' and a documentary telling his story will be aired on Netflix next year.

His problems started early, at the age of seven, when he was sexually assaulted and badly beaten, leaving him with a brain injury. Throughout his childhood and adolescence, he made things worse by “using alcohol and drugs to hide from the shame and anger.” This led to involvement in crime, to help pay for his drug habit, and the downward spiral began.

Then, aged 21, the turning point.

“Sadly I ended up being arrested in 1981 and falsely charged with the attempted murder of a police officer. While I was incarcerated on those charges, I stupidly made up a story that led the police to charge me with the rape and murder of a woman I had never met.”

That woman was Linda Mae Craig, who was murdered in December, 1981, by a killer with a B+ blood type, the same as Nick Yarris. Unfortunately, at that time, blood typing was the height of biological forensic analysis. These were the days before DNA fingerprinting, a technology that subsequently exonerated Nick.

In one prison, in Florida, he came across the notorious serial killer, Ted Bundy, and various other unrepentant murderers, who he describes as “all cowards”.

“That’s why they pick on children and women. They are not going to go up against a man. I was fascinated by a lot of them. The cannibals, the serial killers, the violent. I saw myself as on this great journey, in a way. Trying to learn from them, not to be them.”

Nick is a big man, 6’2″, 14 stone, well built. And he let his killers know that if they were to go up against him, they would have “all hell handed to them”.

In prison, he was visited and interviewed by a woman called Jackie Schaefer, who subsequently fell in love with him and married him, while still a prisoner. Jackie was interested in Nick's positive attitude, his acceptance of the situation, despite his innocence.

“I then turned towards being executed beautifully. I wanted to face my death with elegance. I know that’s a strange thing to say, but we are all living under a death sentence, Sean. No one is getting a chance to tell us when we are going to die. So I wanted to do it with panache.”

Nick and Jackie’s marriage lasted nine years, during which time she visited every month, driving 200 miles each way from her home in Pittsburgh.

In 2002, having contracted hepatitis C from various beatings in prison, Nick asked to be executed. Instead, the courts decided to order DNA testing, to conclusively prove his guilt. Bizarrely, the testing demonstrated the opposite, proving his innocence and ultimately leading to his release.

What you've read here is just a portion of a fascinating story which can be heard in full by clicking here.

The Fear of 13. Countdown to Execution: My Fight for Survival on Death Row
by Nick Yarris is published by CENTURY, priced €16.99