Michael Flinner, a 59-year-old inmate on California's death row, is seeking a romantic connection through a penpal website called Wire of Hope, an organisation established by a woman who moved from France to Florida to marry a death row prisoner.
Flinner was sentenced to death for orchestrating the murder of his 18-year-old girlfriend, Tamra Keck, in 2000. He has been imprisoned since that year, and in 2016 he attracted global media attention for advocating that prisoners should be permitted to donate their organs.
Profile details
In his profile on the site, Flinner described the type of woman he hoped would contact him. He wrote: "Abandoned? Hardly. I'm a 50-something Southern California native (lifer), a kind, generous, emotionally available, fit, funny, college-educated, accomplished author and prison health care policy reform advocate."
He continued: "I'm 5'10", weigh 240 lbs, am bald by choice, have dark green eyes, and keep a well-groomed salt-and-pepper goatee year-round."
He added: "This former general contractor and handy outdoorsman seeks a cultured, curvy, witty, web-savvy, and open-minded senior gal for a meaningful friendship filled with intimacy, laughter, and plenty of intellectual stimulation. No mind games, heart games, or ego games, please. Age, race, and appearance are unimportant."
Murder of Tamra Keck
Tamra Keck was murdered shortly after meeting Flinner in 1999, who she had begun seeing romantically. He had previously spent time in prison following a rape conviction, and it was not long before he devised a scheme that would ultimately claim the life of his 18-year-old partner, who had reportedly become his fiancée.
Flinner, then in his early 30s and working as a landscaper, took out life insurance in Tamra's name before recruiting his former employee, Haron Ontiveros, to murder her, enabling him to claim $500,000 (£378k) from the newly established policy.
He listed himself as the beneficiary and falsely stated that Tamra was employed at his landscaping company. On June 11, 2000, Ontiveros shot the victim in the back of the head after luring her to a cul-de-sac by feigning vehicle problems.
Sentencing and appeals
The hired killer received a life sentence without parole after being convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy. Flinner faced these identical charges, alongside solicitation to commit murder, and was sentenced to death in 2003, a ruling which was confirmed in 2020.
Flinner has been housed within California's infamous San Quentin State Prison, where he previously spoke to 60 Minutes Australia, contending that allowing prisoners to donate organs would provide inmates with the "ultimate restitution".
He added: "There is a lot of evil that lurks beyond prison walls but I think and even greater evil is standing idly by outside the fish bowl when we have an opportunity to fix something."
