You may see some deep cosmic purpose at work here. On the other hand, it may be nothing more than the sweet irony of Dame Fortune (aka Dumb Luck). What it most definitely is, I would venture, is the best Good News-Bad News tale I’ve heard for a long time.

Back in 1995, in Nashville, Tennessee, a woman was murdered. James Washington was what they called a person-of-interest. That is a law enforcement euphemism for a suspect with insufficient evidence pointing to him.

Fast forward to present day. James, no youngster, suffers a heart attack. He is rushed to the hospital. He believes that he is about to croak. He calls someone over. A deathbed confession to the aforementioned murder ensues. Now comes the Good News-Bad News part of the tale.

Ol’ James lives. Notwithstanding his subsequent attempt to recant his confession, the local prosecutor isn’t in the mood for retraction. The homicide prosecution goes forward and James Washington is convicted of murder.

Nothing spoils a deathbed confession like living to pay for it.