The Murderer Who Found Peace

In 1918, Tokichi Ishii sat in a Tokyo prison cell awaiting execution. He had committed multiple murders, attacked guards, and earned a reputation as one of Japan's most violent criminals. Two Canadian missionaries, Caroline MacDonald and a colleague, visited his cell and left behind a New Testament. Ishii had no interest — until one restless night he opened it. He read slowly through the Gospels and arrived at Luke 23, where Jesus hung on the cross beside criminals not unlike himself.…