KXXV-TV News Channel 25 - Central Texas News and Weather for Waco, Temple, Killeen | Inmate blog owner apologizes for Tabler letters

Inmate blog owner apologizes for Tabler letters

by Sara Talbert

WACO - In an exclusive interview with News Channel 25, the owner of  blogginginmates.com says she apologizes to Texas Senator John Whitmire of Houston. This comes after accusations that death row inmate Richard Tabler threatened the senator through a letter posted on the website over the summer.

The website's owner, who goes by the name Rene Fergie, told News Channel 25 Wednesday she was unaware of Tabler's history and did not even know the letter posted on her website threatened Senator Whitmire. She also said she was approached by two Texas investigators in her hometown in Ohio regarding the issue.

"I had no idea this was going on until I got the call and the Sheriff's Department wanted to see me. I was terrified," said Fergie.

Fergie, who says she lives in Ohio, started the website to give a voice to death row inmates. She also says a volunteer, who types the inmate letters is the one who posted Tabler's threatening letter. 

"I had no idea the volunteer had posted that threatening letter," said Fergie, who issued an apology on her website to Senator Whitmire on the website and says she'll be sending an official letter of apology soon. She does say she is now fearful for her saferty and the safety of her family.

"I have people on the internet trying to find me. They're angry because Richard Tabler's letters were posted," said Fergie.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice told News Channel 25 when this story broke earlier this year, Tabler's mail is "strictly monitored." The T.D.C.J. later discovered death row chaplain Richard Anderson had smuggled Tabler's letter out of the prison. He has since been fired. Tabler remains on death row but has asked the courts to speed up his execution date.