‘The death penalty is political. I think the Governor is doing these executions in order to make a name for himself.’ Life and Death Row: The Mass Execution II, Johnson
‘The local politicians tried to execute me. Even when DNA testing came out that excluded me and the other two men that they had convicted from the scene of the crime they still kept trying to kill me.’ ibid. Damien Echols
The governor of Arkansas has scheduled 8 men to die within 10 days of each other. The schedule is to beat the expiration date of a lethal injection drug called Midazolam. Midazolam has been blamed for a number of executions that have gone wrong. Life and Death Row: The Mass Execution III, captions
Next in line to die are Jack Jones and Marcel Williams. ibid.
The last two men scheduled to die are Jason McGehee and Kenneth Williams. Life and Death Row: The Mass Execution IV
In 2004 former US marine John Henry Ramirez stabbed and killed Pablo Castro. He was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. After 8 years on Texas death row John will be executed in 7 days. John is making a final appeal to halt his execution. Life and Death Row: In Cold Blood
‘It was just a bad day and a bunch of wrong choices on my part.’ ibid. Ramirez
My name’s Ivan Cantu. I’m 50 year old … I was wrongfully convicted by a jury in Collin County for Capital Murder. Life and Death Row s4e1: True Conviction
In the US, Texas executes more prisoners than any other state. In seven days it is due to hold its first execution of 2024. ibid. caption
Cantu’s girlfriend and her brother testified he committed the murders. ibid. TV news
There is a strong possibility that Ivan was set up. ibid. Podcast
Sister Helen Prejean is a renowned anti-death penalty campaigner, having worked with Death Row inmates for over 40 years. ibid. caption
‘Two key witnesses that the state put up gave false testimony.’ ibid. Sister Prejean
‘No-one at trial had ever seen Ivan with a gun.’ ibid. podcast
‘You come down to this essential thing about human beings. Are human beings worth more than the worst thing they’ve ever done?’ ibid.
Texas Death Row inmate Ivan Cantu was executed by lethal injection. ibid. Justice Department announcement
September 24th 2021 6:52 a.m. Nassau County, Florida: [TV News]: We have live coverage as the manhunt continues the search for this man accused of shooting a Nassau County deputy. Life & Death Row s4e2: Cop Killer
Seven hours earlier, police officer Joshua Myers was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop. The shooter [Patrick McDowell] is quickly identified as a local man who served in the US Marine Corps. ibid. caption
He [McDowell] was self-medicating for the PDSD. ibid. defense brief
He was living a lifestyle of criminality. ibid. rozzer
Over the next 5 days 50 witnesses are called to testify to McDowell’s good character. ibid. caption
Basically, he’s going to ask for death. ibid.
22 years ago Ramiro Gonzales admitted to killing 18-year-old Bridget Townsend. Life & Death Row s4e3: Murder on the Ranch
The Board of Pardons and Paraoles has unanimously rejected Gonzales’ petition for both life without parole and a stay of execution. ibid.
This film is about the death penalty in the state of Mississippi and the effect it has on the staff and inmates as time runs out for one 26-year-old man: Edward Earl Johnson. Johnson has been appealing against his sentence for 8 years in the United States’ courts. He was convicted in 1979 of killing a Mississippi town marshal and the attempted rape of a 60-year-old woman. He has spent the last 8 years on this death row and has always professed his innocence. Fourteen Days in May, BBC 1987
At the scene of the crime where Johnson allegedly robbed a 60-year-old woman and killed a local town marshal an old Buick car was seen. Because Johnson owned a Buick he was arrested with others and put in front of an identity parade. The woman who was robbed and nearly raped had known Edward Johnson for most of his life. ibid.
They wrote out a confession and asked Johnson to sign it. ibid.
Johann Reichhart was the most famous executioner in Nazi Germany. In a career which spans just over 20 years it was said that he put over 3,000 people to death. Jamie Theakston’s Forbidden History s4e1: Hitler’s Executioner: Johann Reichhart, Sky 2017
A family of executioners that went back eight generations. ibid.
20 guillotines were secretly ordered and distributed to prisons across the Reich. ibid.
Today there are over 50 countries around the world which continue to use the death penalty … It is only a decade since capital punishment was finally removed from British law. Timeshift: Crime and Punishment: The Story of Capital Punishment, BBC 2018
For over 200 years a moral battle raged about whether the state has the right to execute. ibid.
But it was in the late 18th century that the death penalty was applied most widely. ibid.
The participation of the crowd itself which appeared to revel in a macabre party atmosphere. ibid.
Between 1770 and 1830 over 35,000 people were sentenced to death. But only one in ten were actually executed. ibid.
The Victorians were still committed to retaining the death penalty for those convicted of murder. ibid.
The Victorians began to build large prisons across Britain as places of both punishment and reform. ibid.
[Albert] Pierrepoint became a familiar face to British audiences through numerous television interviews. ibid.
There was still widespread support for capital punishment. ibid.
In 1969 parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of permanently abolishing the death penalty for murder … Hanging only remained for treason and piracy. ibid.
Gary Gilmore became the first person to be executed in the US for ten years … by a firing squad in Utah. ibid.
She was our most infamous queen. The second wife of Henry VIII tried on his orders for crimes of adultery and treason. Anne Boleyn was led from her rooms at the Tower of London to her death by an executioner’s sword. The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family, BBC 2021
On 21st January 1793 King Louis the VI was sent to the guillotine ... Few such foreign events have evoked such horror in England. Monarchy by David Starkey s3e5: Survival
I only have a little neck. So it will be the work of a moment. Wolf Hall VI: Masters of Phantoms, Ann, BBC 2015
Anne Boleyn: Around a thousand people have gathered to watch her execution. Days that Shook the World: Affairs of the Crown, BBC 2004
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia … The world’s champion of democracy and human rights has sidled up closer to it than any other friends. Abby Martin, The Empire Files: Inside Saudi Arabia: Butchery, Slavery and History of Revolt, Youtube 2015
Cutting lots of people’s heads off with swords right in the middle of the street … executed more than a hundred people in the first six months of 2015. ibid.
Beheading, firing squad or stoned to death. Non-violent drug offences count for a shocking 43% of all executions. ibid.
Accused offenders have their limbs amputated and dissenters are severely lashed. ibid.
‘Saudi Arabia continues its outrageous repression of human rights activist’. ibid. Washington Post article
‘Thousands of people have been arrested and detained in virtual secrecy, while others have been killed in uncertain circumstances. Hundreds more people face summary trials and possible execution’. ibid. Amnesty International report
Former Conservative MP Michael Portillo is on a mission to investigate the science of killing. He wants to find a method that is unquestionably humane. And to do so he will delve into one of the darkest areas of science – his aim is to try and understand what it feels like to die by execution. Horizon: How to Kill a Human Being, BBC 2008
Fifty-five countries in the world use execution as the ultimate punishment. But the killing of prisoners has long been the issue of controversy. ibid.