A grandmother who’s spent nearly 15 years in an overcrowded, rat-infested Indonesian prison recently revealed that she has a heartbreaking last wish before she’s shot in the heart during her execution by firing squad.
Lindsay Sandiford, now 69, once lived a quiet life working in legal management in Cheltenham. But after a painful separation from her husband and mounting financial problems – leading to the eviction from her residence – she left for a fresh start in India in 2012.
But on May 19, when she flew to Bali from Bangkok, airport authorities found a massive haul – 11 lb or 4.8 kg – of cocaine stuffed in the lining of her suitcase. The mother was immediately arrested.
Kids in danger
At first, Sandiford claimed she had been forced by a violent criminal gang who threatened her family. But under intense pressure and terrified by the threat of execution, she changed her story and named British antiques dealer Julian Ponder, his partner Rachel Dougall, and another man, Paul Beales, as being involved.
At the time, Channel 4 reported that she claimed her inclusion was driven by fear for the lives of her children.
In her witness statement, Sandiford said: “I would like to begin by apologising to the Republic of Indonesia and the Indonesian people for my involvement.
“I would never have become involved in something like this, but the lives of my children were in danger, and I felt I had to protect them.”
Death by firing squad
While Ponder, his former partner Dougall, and Beales were released after serving minimal time – rumors suggested that over $1.3 million in bribes were paid to have trafficking charges dropped – Teesside’s Sandiford was not so lucky.
Despite her cooperation, and prosecutors recommending a 15-year prison sentence, the judges showed no leniency. On January 22, 2013, the alleged drug mule was sentenced to death by firing squad.
The Daily Record explains that during the brutal execution, convicts are marched to an isolated grassy field, allowed to sit or stand, and are shot at by 12 executioners from the paramilitary forces, who aim for the heart.
If the first shots don’t kill, the commander fires a final, fatal shot to the head.
Executions are rare in Indonesia, with many inmates spending over a decade on death row. The last executions took place in 2015, and according to the Mirror, around 130 people – including Sandiford – are currently awaiting execution.
Appeal denied
Since her sentencing, Sandiford has been held in the notorious Kerobokan Prison – a facility built for 300 people but now housing over 1,400 inmates. Violence, riots, and neglect are common.
The woman has tried everything to fight her sentence, but after running out of money, she could no longer afford legal support. A public fundraising campaign allowed her to fly in an Indonesian lawyer, but her appeal was swiftly dismissed.
Now, she reportedly spends her days knitting scarves and small crafts to raise money for her dwindling legal efforts.
Friends in dark places
During her time in Kerobokan, the grandmother formed an unlikely friendship with a fellow inmate – Heather Mack, the American woman, who in 2014, was convicted of murdering her mother and stuffing her body into a suitcase while on a luxury vacation in Bali.
During Mack’s 10-year sentence in the infamous prison – she’s now locked up for about 20 years in a Chicago pen – she met Sandiford.
“I am friends with Lindsay, but she has been difficult to speak to recently,” Mack told the Daily Record of her prison pal. “She spends all day pretty much alone in her cell and doesn’t mix so much with the other prisoners. She snaps at me for no reason, but I still make an effort with her.”
Hope lost
In a chilling conversation with Mack, she recalled, Sandiford revealed the moment the gravity of her fate truly hit her – when two fellow prisoners were abruptly executed for drug offences.
“They had turned their lives around and were different people to when they were convicted, so everyone thought they would be okay.,” Sandiford reportedly told her former penitentiary pal. “When Lindsay saw that even they could be taken away and killed, she knew it would be happening to her. That’s when it really, really hit home for her.”
Last wish
The British woman then shared with Mack her final wish: “She has said she wants to die…‘It won’t be a hard thing for me to face anymore.’”
Sandiford then said, “It’s not particularly a death I would choose but then again I wouldn’t choose dying in agony from cancer either. I do feel I can cope with it. But when it happens, I don’t want my family to come. I don’t want any fuss at all. The one thing certain about life is no one gets out alive.”
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