Prison wives married criminals who will spend the rest of their lives in prison (3 photos)

Two friends, Paige Nicole and Gigi Taylor, face public censure because their husbands will die behind bars. Paige's boyfriend, Joseph, is serving a life sentence, while Gigi's boyfriend, Michael, is on death row.





Both women met their husbands through inmate chat websites. They say the romantic relationships are valuable, despite the lack of physical intimacy.

Public Judgement

The duo recently launched a podcast called "Love Within the Walls." In one of the latest episodes, the hosts talked about judgement and stereotypes, including from friends and family.

"Judgement comes from all sides, not only from family, friends, coworkers, but also from people we meet on the street. In fact, we even get judgement from the prison spouse community because we met our husbands when they were already behind bars. People can't understand why you would look for love in prison? They think it's because of low self-esteem," Gigi says.



Paige, a healthcare worker from Pennsylvania, met her husband Joseph in 2021. She was bored during quarantine and decided to check out the website Write A Prisoner. Joseph had been in prison for 14 years at the time — he has a life sentence, but Paige hopes that one day her beloved will be released.

"Most people hint that there's something wrong with us," adds Nicole, who has a five-year-old son from a previous relationship.

Gigi's Story

Gigi, for her part, met Michael eight years ago after watching a documentary about death row inmates. Her lover has been in prison since he was 20, so for 25 years now.

At the time, Taylor was married and not looking for love. However, when Michael responded to the letter, she was shocked by his frank story. Soon after, her official husband left her.

"When you are the wife of a lifer or your loved one is on death row, people cannot come to terms with it. My dad was quite rational about my choice, but my mom was not. She did not talk to me for about a week and a half. Seven years have passed since then. Now she has stepped forward and is starting to come to her senses. We cried together in the car," the prisoner's wife added.