A YOUNG woman swears she has found love in another country where her fiance is locked behind bars.
Verona, from Norway, says she met her lover, Justin, after joining a prison pen pal site after her previous relationship broke down.
Verona met her future husband on aprison pen pal website[/caption]
Now the couple have decided to wed in prison instead of waiting for his release[/caption]
She revealed she found solace speaking to strangers about her emotions when she found Justin on the site and they instantly hit it off.
Verona said that at first, she wasn’t romantically interested but her feelings grew when she realised he had hopes for a new life.
Verona has travelled to Arizona, where Justin is locked up, twice, and on their first meeting, they decided to get engaged.
Speaking to Love Don’t Judge, she said: “I got engaged to him the first time I met him.
“He was warning me that he would get on his knees like in front of everyone, cuz you’re not alone in the visitation room.
“He made his old speech and asked me to be his wife.”
Verona, 29, and Justin, 37, now plan to get married behind bars while he serves the remaining two and a half years of his 13-year prison sentence.
Inside, Justin earns money to be able to call Verona by teaching yoga and baking.
Now, she had the hard task of telling her friends about her relationship and exactly who Justin is.
Verona sat her friends down to let them know she was going to get married to a prison inmate, who was charged with armed robbery.
They speak up to 20 times a day and have only met in person twice[/caption]
Her friends first assumed it was a prank, but Verona assured them it wasn’t, something they both needed time to ‘process.’
Verona told them, “I wasn’t supposed to fall in love though. That was not the plan. That just happened.”
Speaking on those who doubt their relationship, Verona said she and Justin had two years to plan and build their new life together.
“You should give someone the opportunity to let them show who they are before you judge them just because of something that happened in the past,” she continued.
“Why would you not let someone grow and get better and give them a chance?”
UK Prison Brides
- Tracey Bottomley married double murderer Ernest Otto Smith in the US after meeting through a prison pen pal initiative. Tracey, from West Yorks, knew he had been given a life sentence with no possibility of parole
- Rebecca Short, from Oxfordshire, told her family she was on holiday in the US in 2022. Little did they know she was marrying double murderer Manuel Ovate Jr, who was on death row
- Paula Williamson, an actress who appeared on Hollyoaks and Emmerdale, married the infamous Charles Bronson in 2017 after they became penpals
- Karen Charves married Kenny Richey while he was on death row in 2014. He had been convicted for starting a fire in 1986 that killed his ex-girlfriend’s daughter, aged two. Karen and Kenny’s union did not last and she claimed he was abusive.
- Naomi Wise, from Essex, married Victor Oquendo, nicknamed Animal, while he was serving a 24-year prison term in a US jail. They split up in 2022 but have now rekindled their romance
Public Reaction
Despite her plea to see the best in others, people were quick to judge in the comments section of the video.
One person wrote: “The bar is set so low it is now in the gutter.”
Another commented: “Girl, why?”
“I’m judging,” penned a third.
Meanwhile a fourth said: “I wish her the best. I hope she’s not being played…”
“Silly, silly, silly,” claimed a fifth
Someone else added: “I hope it works out for her.”
