We’re proud prison wives – we can’t kiss or touch our men and they will die behind bars, but it’s worth it
A PAIR of prison wives have shared an insight into their unique relationships with men who will die behind bars.
Paige Nicole, 30 met her husband Joseph in 2021 after deciding to peruse the Write A Prisoner website, whilst bored during lockdown.
She revealed that Joseph immediately caught her eye, as she was “super hot.”
Paige, from Pennsylvania, said that Joseph had put in his bio on the website that he wasn’t looking for romance, which she liked as she wasn’t looking for that either.
The healthcare worker, who has a five year old son from a previous relationship, handwrote him a letter and immediately fell in love with him after reading his reply.
Despite beginning their relationship in February 2021, the couple weren’t actually allowed to meet until December due to Covid restrictions.
When Paige was finally able to visit the prison, it was for just two hours and they were only allowed one hug.
“I flew across the country for one two hour visit, and you know what I’d do it again”, she said on the A Prison Wife Podcast, which she shares with Gigi Taylor.
“We weren’t allowed to kiss, but I wanted to so bad.”
Joseph is in prison in California, which is a five hour flight from Pennsylvania so Paige is only able to visit him once every three months.
As their romance continued to blossom, Joseph proposed to Paige, and they planned to get married inside the prison.
However, on the week of the ceremony, Joseph got transferred to a different prison.
This meant that the couple were not able to get married, but had a civil partnership instead, which allows them to have Family Visits.
In the state of California, some prisoners are allowed Family Visits, which is where visitors are allowed to spend the night with a prisoner in an apartment on the prison grounds.
Joseph has been in prison for 14 years, since he was 21, and has a whole life sentence.
He is likely to die in prison, but Paige is still hopeful that he will one day be let out.
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
Despite the fact that Joseph will probably never leave prison, the pair have made a bucket list of all the places they would like to go.
“Manifestation is real,” she said.
Gigi met her husband Michael eight years ago after watching a documentary about death row inmates.
She decided to write to a death row prisoner in Louisiana, where she is from and was immediately attracted to Michael.
“Something in my gut told me this is the guy you’re going to write to”, she said.
Michael has been in prison for 25 years, since he was 20 years old.
Gigi was married to her high school sweetheart at the time, and wasn’t looking for love with Michael.
However, when Michael replied to her letter, she was “blown away” by how articulate he was.
Soon after the duo met, Gigi’s husband left her, so she began a relationship with Michael.
“He changed my life, he made me a better person”, she said.
Michael told her he loved before the pair had even met and the next day, Gigi said it back.
Her parents are not supportive of the union, but Gigi said that Michael makes her so happy, and added that she would rather be with him than someone she can be with physically.
She added that her relationship with Michael is the first healthy relationship she has ever been in.”
“It’s been a very crazy ride, but at the same time a beautiful ride”, said Gigi.
“Some of the best people you will ever meet have been incarcerated”, Paige added.