In June 2025, when 78-year-old Sonia ‘Sunny’ Jacobs, along with her carer Kevin Kelly (31) died in a house fire at the Connemara home she called her “sanctuary", it seemed like a tragically ironic end for a celebrated activist. But Jacobs was no stranger to life's juxtapositions. The well-liked and peaceful woman spent five years on death row in the US before her conviction over the murder of two police officers in Florida in 1976 was overturned after procedural errors were identified. Now, as a Florida inmate speaks out about the circumstances leading to her incarceration, we ask who was the real Sunny Jacobs?




Host: Kevin Doyle, Guest: Eavan Murray




This podcast was first published in June 2025.




We want to earn your trust and are members of the Trust Project. See our ethics policies at independent.ie/ourjournalism

In June 2025, when 78-year-old Sonia ‘Sunny’ Jacobs, along with her carer Kevin Kelly (31) died in a house fire at the Connemara home she called her “sanctuary", it seemed like a tragically ironic end for a celebrated activist. But Jacobs was no stranger to life's juxtapositions. The well-liked and peaceful woman spent five years on death row in the US before her conviction over the murder of two police officers in Florida in 1976 was overturned after procedural errors were identified. Now, as a Florida inmate speaks out about the circumstances leading to her incarceration, we ask who was the real Sunny Jacobs?
 
Host: Kevin Doyle, Guest: Eavan Murray
 
This podcast was first published in June 2025.
 
We want to earn your trust and are members of the Trust Project. See our ethics policies at <a href="https://independent.ie/ourjournalism">independent.ie/ourjournalism</a>

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