Delacroix's Arrival and Beating by Percy

Eduard Delacroix, a slight, balding Cajun convicted of rape, murder, and arson, arrived on E Block of Cold Mountain Penitentiary on a rainy Monday in late July 1932. He was not led quietly to his cell but was instead dragged through the door by Percy Wetmore, a guard whose cruelty was as unchecked as his political connections were powerful. The scene shattered the usual quiet of the death row block, introducing a prisoner who would become the focus of some of the most harrowing events in the fall of John Coffey.

Causes and Background

Delacroix had been convicted of raping and murdering a young girl, then setting her body on fire in an attempt to destroy the evidence. The fire spread, killing six more people, including two children. By the time he reached E Block, the violent impulse that had driven his crime was gone, leaving behind a mild-mannered, worried-looking man. The block was already home to John Coffey, a giant of a man condemned for the murder of the Detterick twins, and the atmosphere was tense. Percy Wetmore, a guard who was related to the governor by marriage, had a history of abusive behavior and a particular contempt for prisoners he considered weak. He had already demonstrated his capacity for cruelty, and Delacroix, small and frightened, was a perfect target.

What Happens

The door to the exercise yard slammed open, letting in a flood of light and the sound of a frightened voice babbling in a mixture of English and Cajun French. Percy was dragging Delacroix by one arm, his baton in his other hand, his face bright red and his teeth bared in a strained grimace. Delacroix, wearing leg irons, could not keep up, and Paul Edgecombe, the block superintendent, sprang out of the cell to catch him as he fell. Percy rounded on Delacroix, raising his baton, and began to strike him repeatedly on the shoulders. Delacroix screamed, holding up his arms, as the stick went "whap-whap-whap" against his prison shirt. Edgecombe tried to shield the prisoner, but Percy's club continued to flail, and Delacroix began to bleed from one ear. Edgecombe finally grabbed Delacroix and hurled him into his cell, while Brutus Howell grabbed Percy and hauled him back. Percy claimed that Delacroix had tried to "cop his joint" when he was pulled from the van, a charge that Howell later dismissed as a complete accident—Delacroix had stumbled and his hand had merely brushed the front of Percy's pants. Edgecombe, furious, ordered Percy off the block, but Percy threatened to make a report of his own, confident in his connections. The beating left Delacroix with bruises from "Christmas to Easter."

Consequences and Aftermath

The assault established a pattern of terror and hatred that would define Delacroix's time on the Green Mile. He cringed every time anyone moved near his cell, and his fear of Percy was absolute. Edgecombe, recognizing the danger Percy posed, tried to keep them apart, but the damage was done. The event also deepened the rift between Percy and the other guards, who saw his behavior as a violation of the unwritten rules of E Block, where the job was to keep prisoners calm, not to terrorize them. This initial act of violence was a direct precursor to Percy's later, far more devastating cruelty: the stomping of Delacroix's pet mouse, Mr. Jingles, and the deliberate sabotage of Delacroix's execution, which resulted in a horrifically painful death. The beating was the first step on a path that would lead to Percy's own destruction, as John Coffey would later use Percy as an instrument to kill William Wharton, leaving Percy a catatonic shell.