Guns or Frying Pans?

“Young man, you put that gun down!” Louise Degrafinried commanded firmly as Riley Arceneaux burst into her home pushing her husband, Nathon, ahead of him at gunpoint. “Young man, I’m a Christian lady and don’t believe in violence,” she continued. “You put that gun down right here. Son, you must be starving. Now, how do you want your eggs?”

Several days earlier on February 18, 1984, Riley, along with five others, had escaped from the Fort Pillow Correctional Facility in West Tennessee where he was serving a 25-year prison sentence for second-degree murder. He was cold, wet, desperate, and lonely as he stumbled onto the home of Nathon and Louise, a God-fearing couple in their seventies, who were active members of the Mt. Sinai Primitive Baptist Church. The entire community was on edge because of the escaped convicts. Louise was on the phone with a friend of hers about this very subject when Riley and Nathon burst into the house. She simply said, “Well. they’re here now,” and hung up the phone.

“I haven’t eaten in three days,” Riley growled as he cooperatively laid his gun by the sofa. Louise quickly whipped out her trusty frying pan and soon the tantalizing smell of African American “soul food”—frying bacon, eggs, toast, and coffee—filled the small house. Louise set out her best napkins and sent Nathon to bring Riley a pair of dry socks. Louise began asking about his family. Riley mentioned that Louise reminded him of his grandmother who had recently passed away. “I have no one who cares anything about me. No one cares if I live or die,” Riley lamented.

“Young man, I love you, and God loves you. God loves all of us, every one of us, especially you. Jesus died for you, because He loves you so much,” Louise assured him as she patted his leg, and a tear ran down his cheek. As Nathon, Louise, and Riley sat down to eat their breakfast, Louise took Riley by the hand and thanked God for the food and that Riley was safe. She asked Riley if he had anything to say to God. Undeterred by his disinterest, she coached Riley through a simple prayer, “Jesus wept”.[1]

As they ate, the elderly couple entreated him to simply give himself up to the authorities. In Louise’s own words, “I went to giving him Bible.” Louise told Riley, “When we do wrong, we have to be punished.”

Unknown to Riley, Louise’s friend, who she was talking with at the beginning of the confrontation, had notified the police. As the threesome enjoyed their breakfast, they heard the sirens in the distance. “The police will kill me. I know it!” wailed Riley.

“No, I won’t let them. You do what is right, and I won’t let them hurt you;’ Louise assured him.

Soon the yard was filled with police cars with officers crouched behind their car doors with their guns drawn, fully expecting a criminal to burst out of the door shooting for his freedom. Instead, they were met by a 73-year-old grandmother with her hands on her hips. “Y’all put those guns away, I don’t allow no violence here. You put those guns down. This fellow is going to give himself up, but he needs to finish his breakfast first;’ she instructed with the same authoritative voice she had used on Riley several moments earlier. The police reluctantly agreed but remained wary.

Several moments later Riley stepped out onto the porch with his hands above his head, Nathon and Louise on either side with their arms around him. He was arrested without incident and taken back to Fort Pillow prison. Newspaper headlines highlighted how this woman with her Bible and frying pan did what all the law enforcement in West Tennessee was unable to do!

Less than 12 hours later, Paul Windrow, a fifty-nine-year-old local tire dealer as well as a church elder, was grilling steaks on his patio. He had also heard about the convicts being on the lam, and he had taken the precaution of carrying his pistol on his belt at all times. Ronald Freeman and James Clegg, who along with Riley Arceneaux had held a family hostage two days before, came bursting out of the kudzu covered bushes behind his house. Paul fired two shots, neither which struck the convicts, before they fatally shot him. Underscoring Jesus’ words, “They that take the sword will perish with the sword.”[2]

The pair then burst into the house and took Paul’s wife Elizabeth hostage, and forced her to drive them several hours to East Tennessee, where they left her at an interstate rest area, and fled. She was unable to cope with the memories of her husband’s murder and her kidnapping and had to leave her home. She moved to a new location in an effort to bury the trauma.

While Riley went back to prison, he didn’t drop out of Nathon and Louise’s life. Louise asked for a picture of Riley which she put in their family album. The police asked them to press charges against Riley, but the Degrafinrieds refused, “Because that boy didn’t do anything to us,” they said. Riley still received an additional 20 years added to his sentence for escaping and for his involvement with an earlier kidnapping. Louise continued to visit him in prison and wrote letters in spite of the fact that her arthritis made writing legibly difficult.

Unfortunately, Riley didn’t respond to the Gospel immediately. Four years after his initial escape, he attempted to escape from prison again. While he wasn’t successful in this attempt, he was sent to solitary confinement for a time. While he was by himself for 23 hours a day, he began to think seriously about the claims that God had on his life. He remembered especially the testimony of Louise Degrafinried, and he realized this was what real Christianity looked like in real life. Louise continued to write letters in which she encouraged him, “I believe in you. Trust God to work in your life. Be patient, study your Bible and look for the good in everybody.” Riley said the lack of fear that Louise showed convinced him to become a Christian in 1988. “She (Louise) was real Christianity. No fear;’ Riley said. When Louise prayed with Riley on a visit to the prison, she began her prayer by saying, “God, this is your child. You know me and I know you:’ Riley knew that was the relationship he wanted with God.

The Degrafinrieds worked to get Riley released from prison, which finally happened in 1995. Riley moved to Nashville, got a job, and began to build life instead of destroying it.

Louise died in August, 1998. Among the crowd of 300 mourners at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church was Riley Arceneaux, who was serving as a pallbearer. He also spoke to the crowd in his eulogy, “This woman was a real Christian. No fear! It was through her that I turned my life around:’ He reassured the family that he was staying out of trouble. “It’s not just a jailhouse religion like some guys get. It does stick with some people. To me it’s how much you really seek after God while you’re in there;’ he said.

By this time, he was working as a foreman at the Crown Tent & Awning Co. He was living in Nashville with his wife and young son. His was truly a life redeemed.

What will be your weapon of  choice? Gun or frying pan? Are you willing to beat your guns into frying pans?

[1] John 11:35. When someone asked her later, “Why did you tell him to say ‘Jesus wept’?” she said, “Because I figured that he didn’t have no church background, so I wanted to start him off simple; something short, you know.”

[2] Matthew 26:52

This article first appeared in the October 2019 Calvary Messenger. Published here by the permission of the author. Also see https://jimandnancyforest.com/tag/louise-degrafinried/