WEBVTT - Deadliest 48 Hours Of The Year On Death Row, Begins Tonight 

0:00:02.120 --> 0:00:05.320
<v Speaker 1>Hey, they're folks. It is Wednesday, May twentieth, and over

0:00:05.519 --> 0:00:10.559
<v Speaker 1>the next two days, there are three executions scheduled in

0:00:10.600 --> 0:00:13.720
<v Speaker 1>the United States, and Kim Kardashian is trying to stop

0:00:13.760 --> 0:00:15.760
<v Speaker 1>at least one of them. And with that, welcome to

0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:20.920
<v Speaker 1>this episode of Amy and TJ ropes. Yes, we've had

0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:24.479
<v Speaker 1>days where they're back to back, but just something that

0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:27.120
<v Speaker 1>seems like a lot over a couple of days. But yeah,

0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:30.320
<v Speaker 1>three states have executions on the book starting tonight.

0:00:30.480 --> 0:00:34.280
<v Speaker 2>Yes, and it's been described as the deadliest week for

0:00:34.360 --> 0:00:37.400
<v Speaker 2>the death penalty in the United States.

0:00:37.479 --> 0:00:38.480
<v Speaker 3>So far this year.

0:00:38.680 --> 0:00:43.120
<v Speaker 2>We haven't seen three people scheduled to die by lethal

0:00:43.159 --> 0:00:47.159
<v Speaker 2>injection in a week, let alone in a period of

0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:50.720
<v Speaker 2>two days. We haven't seen it at all until now.

0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:54.440
<v Speaker 1>And yes, and we should say, well, how does this happen?

0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:57.400
<v Speaker 1>Why does this happen? It's in three different states. They're

0:00:57.400 --> 0:01:01.720
<v Speaker 1>not coordinating efforts. They are signing independent death warrants. The

0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:04.000
<v Speaker 1>governors are and these dates are scheduled and they just

0:01:04.040 --> 0:01:05.880
<v Speaker 1>happen to fall like this, And we should mention the

0:01:05.920 --> 0:01:09.160
<v Speaker 1>three states at least no, no, no, I guess one of

0:01:09.200 --> 0:01:12.080
<v Speaker 1>them will come as no surprise. The second one maybe not,

0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:14.679
<v Speaker 1>but another we don't hear as much from when it

0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:15.679
<v Speaker 1>comes to executions.

0:01:15.760 --> 0:01:20.200
<v Speaker 2>Yes, Arizona is going to be executing its first an

0:01:20.240 --> 0:01:24.399
<v Speaker 2>inmate of the year. Tennessee is also scheduled to have

0:01:24.440 --> 0:01:26.920
<v Speaker 2>an execution tomorrow morning. And then yes, the state of

0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:29.600
<v Speaker 2>Florida that we're all very very familiar with now when

0:01:29.600 --> 0:01:33.040
<v Speaker 2>it comes to executions, is also set to execute an

0:01:33.120 --> 0:01:34.560
<v Speaker 2>inmate in that state.

0:01:34.800 --> 0:01:36.960
<v Speaker 1>And Arizona, I'm trying to get the numbers right, but

0:01:37.040 --> 0:01:39.240
<v Speaker 1>it somewhere around this is only their six or seventh

0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:42.760
<v Speaker 1>since twenty fifteen, so they're not right. Florida had how

0:01:42.800 --> 0:01:46.039
<v Speaker 1>many last year? Just to get you nineteen some context there,

0:01:46.040 --> 0:01:48.560
<v Speaker 1>Arizona just doesn't do this a whole lot. But when

0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:50.160
<v Speaker 1>you hear about some of these crimes and some of

0:01:50.200 --> 0:01:55.080
<v Speaker 1>these criminals, these are some of the most horrific crimes

0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:58.120
<v Speaker 1>you will hear about. The question then comes up ropes

0:01:58.160 --> 0:02:00.200
<v Speaker 1>and is the case in a couple of these is

0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:03.320
<v Speaker 1>the right guy on death row for those crimes? We'll

0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:05.360
<v Speaker 1>get into. Who's trying to get some folks out? Do

0:02:05.400 --> 0:02:06.200
<v Speaker 1>we want to go in order?

0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:07.200
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, let's go in order?

0:02:07.720 --> 0:02:11.720
<v Speaker 1>Uh, starting tomorrow? This is another tonight Tonight, I should

0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:15.119
<v Speaker 1>say at least we starting where in Arizona.

0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:19.079
<v Speaker 3>We're starting in Arizona with Lee Roy McGill. He has

0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:22.200
<v Speaker 3>been on death row for a quarter of a century.

0:02:22.400 --> 0:02:26.079
<v Speaker 2>The crime was committed on July thirteenth, two thousand and two,

0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:29.720
<v Speaker 2>and what he was convicted of doing is horrific. One

0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:34.200
<v Speaker 2>man died, but another woman was left with burns over

0:02:34.360 --> 0:02:38.600
<v Speaker 2>seventy five percent of her body. So he doused a

0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:44.480
<v Speaker 2>couple in gasoline, lit them on fire. Charles Perez died,

0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:49.040
<v Speaker 2>Nova Banta survived, but my goodness, with significant injury.

0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:53.239
<v Speaker 1>And this this crime. Look, these were folks. This was

0:02:53.280 --> 0:02:56.440
<v Speaker 1>all over. They claim they had accused him of stealing

0:02:56.480 --> 0:02:59.680
<v Speaker 1>a gun. Is that right? Yes, okay, yes, So that's

0:02:59.720 --> 0:03:02.639
<v Speaker 1>what this confrontation, this fight was about. And the way

0:03:02.639 --> 0:03:05.120
<v Speaker 1>they describe it rose They were just hanging out, sitting

0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:07.799
<v Speaker 1>on a couch, yep, and he decides to douse them.

0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:12.560
<v Speaker 1>Now you think about that idea, that imagery of just

0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:17.320
<v Speaker 1>how horrific that could have been for them, But not

0:03:17.360 --> 0:03:19.560
<v Speaker 1>just that robe they this happened. They were able to

0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:22.480
<v Speaker 1>both of them run out of the house after they

0:03:22.840 --> 0:03:25.880
<v Speaker 1>caught fire, went outside. Some neighbor saw them put her

0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:28.520
<v Speaker 1>out at least, but he died later at the hospital.

0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:31.919
<v Speaker 1>She survived again. Third degree is how they describe him.

0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:37.680
<v Speaker 2>Yes, it's horrific. And here when you hear what Leroy

0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:41.040
<v Speaker 2>McGill was convicted of doing. Look, I hate to say

0:03:41.120 --> 0:03:44.840
<v Speaker 2>he didn't just douse them with gasoline and throw a match. No,

0:03:45.440 --> 0:03:49.160
<v Speaker 2>before all of that took place, he actually took the

0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:54.800
<v Speaker 2>time to mix the gasoline with styrofoam, and they said

0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:58.120
<v Speaker 2>it created what they described as a napalm effect, and

0:03:58.160 --> 0:04:00.640
<v Speaker 2>that the idea was when he through.

0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:03.160
<v Speaker 3>This gasoline and styrofoam mixture.

0:04:03.240 --> 0:04:06.200
<v Speaker 2>That when he that it would stick to the victims

0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:09.520
<v Speaker 2>and it would make their deaths more painful.

0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:11.320
<v Speaker 3>So he did this not just.

0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:16.200
<v Speaker 2>To kill them, but to make it a extremely exceptionally

0:04:16.320 --> 0:04:20.440
<v Speaker 2>painful death by mixing in this styrofoam with the gasoline.

0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:22.000
<v Speaker 3>Have you ever heard of that before?

0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:24.359
<v Speaker 1>Well, it's this and this is not a spur the

0:04:24.400 --> 0:04:28.360
<v Speaker 1>moment situation. That this is some planning, some premeditation, some intent,

0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:31.039
<v Speaker 1>and not just intent to kill, but intend to make suffer.

0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:34.359
<v Speaker 1>And this is what they often call aggravated circumstances and whatnot.

0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:37.400
<v Speaker 1>This is especially heinous as they described. Now this is

0:04:37.480 --> 0:04:42.800
<v Speaker 1>one robes death penalty opponents will argue and will continue

0:04:42.800 --> 0:04:46.279
<v Speaker 1>to sound the alarm about every death penalty case. This

0:04:47.320 --> 0:04:50.280
<v Speaker 1>ain't a situation, though, where anyone is saying, hey, we

0:04:50.360 --> 0:04:52.680
<v Speaker 1>need to test this or test that, or maybe it

0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:56.560
<v Speaker 1>wasn't him, you have a survivor this is This is

0:04:56.600 --> 0:05:00.159
<v Speaker 1>a very different situation. To the point, he didn't to

0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:02.880
<v Speaker 1>even ask for clemency. He this is one of these

0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:05.479
<v Speaker 1>rare cases where he didn't go through all the appeals

0:05:05.480 --> 0:05:08.320
<v Speaker 1>and all the options he had. So this looks like

0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:10.839
<v Speaker 1>one this evening is going to go through and not

0:05:10.960 --> 0:05:12.160
<v Speaker 1>much is going to step in and stop this.

0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:16.679
<v Speaker 2>That's right, And I just thought this was the whole case,

0:05:16.760 --> 0:05:21.119
<v Speaker 2>The whole murder is chilling. But reportedly again because Nova

0:05:21.160 --> 0:05:24.479
<v Speaker 2>Banta lived to testify against him, she lived to be

0:05:24.560 --> 0:05:27.479
<v Speaker 2>able to tell the story about what happened to her

0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:30.680
<v Speaker 2>and to Charles Perez. But she claimed before he lit

0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:33.880
<v Speaker 2>the match, he said out loud that he said, you

0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:34.680
<v Speaker 2>shouldn't talk.

0:05:34.520 --> 0:05:36.080
<v Speaker 3>About people behind their backs.

0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:40.240
<v Speaker 2>That's he was that angry that they were saying that

0:05:40.360 --> 0:05:44.680
<v Speaker 2>he stole a gun, that he went to these lengths

0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:46.400
<v Speaker 2>to make them go away.

0:05:46.520 --> 0:05:50.440
<v Speaker 3>It just blows the mind. But look, his attorneys he's fighting.

0:05:50.560 --> 0:05:55.200
<v Speaker 2>He has been fighting to have his death sentence commuted,

0:05:55.240 --> 0:05:58.560
<v Speaker 2>but not because he's innocent, and not because it wasn't

0:05:58.640 --> 0:06:01.640
<v Speaker 2>me his attorneys of our you, there were trial errors

0:06:01.640 --> 0:06:03.680
<v Speaker 2>by his defense attorneys at the time. This is a

0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:07.120
<v Speaker 2>very standard appeal that defense attorneys made.

0:06:07.160 --> 0:06:09.440
<v Speaker 3>He has been turned down by every single chord.

0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:13.280
<v Speaker 2>So yes, by all accounts, this is going forward tonight

0:06:13.360 --> 0:06:14.400
<v Speaker 2>in the state of Arizona.

0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:16.840
<v Speaker 1>What time is his it's in Florence. I'm not sure

0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:19.039
<v Speaker 1>where that is in Arizona, i am or what time

0:06:19.120 --> 0:06:19.280
<v Speaker 1>is his?

0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:22.880
<v Speaker 2>I am unclear on the time, but it is this

0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:24.840
<v Speaker 2>evening and by the time it's east coast, it'll be

0:06:24.920 --> 0:06:25.719
<v Speaker 2>later this evening.

0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:27.480
<v Speaker 3>But we can yes, yeah, and.

0:06:27.400 --> 0:06:31.280
<v Speaker 1>Again is this ain't that in terms of people fighting

0:06:31.279 --> 0:06:33.440
<v Speaker 1>trying to prove his innocence. Even took the jury only

0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:36.280
<v Speaker 1>an hour of deliberations when they convicted him the first

0:06:36.320 --> 0:06:39.880
<v Speaker 1>time around. So Leroy McGill, that starts that sixty three

0:06:39.960 --> 0:06:43.400
<v Speaker 1>year old Lee Roy McGill with 's this evening in Arizona.

0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:46.240
<v Speaker 1>Now the other we turn to now hereroes and this

0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:49.719
<v Speaker 1>is a pretty horrific crime as well. But this one

0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:54.600
<v Speaker 1>is scheduled for tomorrow morning. In Tennessee. This is Tony Carrthers. Now,

0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:59.240
<v Speaker 1>the description of this crime is absolutely horrific, But an

0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:03.320
<v Speaker 1>argument is being made now that there's possibly some evidence

0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:05.400
<v Speaker 1>out there that could clear the guy who's about to

0:07:05.440 --> 0:07:08.920
<v Speaker 1>be executed tomorrow morning. For its people are speaking up

0:07:08.920 --> 0:07:10.840
<v Speaker 1>and this is the one I was mentioning about. Kim Kardashian.

0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:11.920
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, Kim Kardashian.

0:07:12.040 --> 0:07:17.600
<v Speaker 2>The ACLU are all pointing to fingerprints that were found

0:07:18.320 --> 0:07:22.680
<v Speaker 2>around the scene that aren't Tony Carruther's fingerprints, and so

0:07:23.640 --> 0:07:27.520
<v Speaker 2>they are saying there is no actual physical forensic evidence

0:07:27.520 --> 0:07:32.000
<v Speaker 2>that links Tony Carruthers to these murders. And should we

0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:35.760
<v Speaker 2>say what the murders are? Just I have every time

0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:38.560
<v Speaker 2>I read these. You read about the gasoline mixed with styrofoam,

0:07:38.680 --> 0:07:43.720
<v Speaker 2>that was a first, This one, this is most people's

0:07:43.720 --> 0:07:45.960
<v Speaker 2>worst nightmare to be buried alive.

0:07:46.240 --> 0:07:50.600
<v Speaker 1>Ah. Yeah, this is involved with involved kidnapping, torture, and

0:07:50.640 --> 0:07:55.800
<v Speaker 1>bearing folks alive. What we're talking about here, this is

0:07:55.840 --> 0:07:59.920
<v Speaker 1>a triple homicide. And he's accused of killing a mom,

0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:04.720
<v Speaker 1>her son, and a friend. Now the son was twenty

0:08:04.720 --> 0:08:08.000
<v Speaker 1>one or something, twenty adult males. But he's accused of

0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:10.480
<v Speaker 1>killing three people, apparently all over something happened to do

0:08:10.520 --> 0:08:13.960
<v Speaker 1>with drugs. But this was and he wasn't the only

0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:16.360
<v Speaker 1>one convicted for this, we should know.

0:08:16.640 --> 0:08:20.240
<v Speaker 2>Yes, So this was in the Memphis area, and according

0:08:20.320 --> 0:08:24.360
<v Speaker 2>to court records, this was the plan. Tony Carruthers, along

0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:28.240
<v Speaker 2>with James Montgomery, that was the cohort. This was their

0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:32.400
<v Speaker 2>plan to take over the drug trade basically in their neighborhood.

0:08:32.440 --> 0:08:34.960
<v Speaker 2>And they wanted to show people in the neighborhood how

0:08:35.040 --> 0:08:36.360
<v Speaker 2>ruthless they.

0:08:36.200 --> 0:08:36.960
<v Speaker 3>Were willing to be.

0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:41.320
<v Speaker 2>So they targeted, kidnapped this twenty one year old drug dealer.

0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:44.920
<v Speaker 2>His name was Marcellos Anderson, his mother and they describe

0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:46.440
<v Speaker 2>her as an innocent woman who.

0:08:46.400 --> 0:08:48.080
<v Speaker 3>Had nothing to do with any of this.

0:08:48.520 --> 0:08:53.760
<v Speaker 2>Forty three year old Deloy Anderson and then Marcello's seventeen

0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:56.880
<v Speaker 2>year old friend, Frederick Trucker. Now, according to court records,

0:08:58.160 --> 0:09:02.000
<v Speaker 2>Tony Carruthers, along with James Montgomery, shot the two men,

0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:06.240
<v Speaker 2>rolled them into a grave that had already been dug

0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:10.600
<v Speaker 2>for a planned funeral the next day, I believe, But then.

0:09:12.240 --> 0:09:15.679
<v Speaker 3>This is unbelievable. They put the mom on top alive

0:09:16.480 --> 0:09:20.600
<v Speaker 3>and then buried all three and hid the bodies.

0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:26.479
<v Speaker 2>The funeral went on, and the bodies were underneath, hidden, undetected.

0:09:27.440 --> 0:09:29.400
<v Speaker 3>So if the.

0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:32.880
<v Speaker 2>Brother of one of the suspects hadn't called police, they

0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:35.520
<v Speaker 2>would never have known to look. He showed them where

0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:38.880
<v Speaker 2>the grave was and where those bodies had been buried.

0:09:38.920 --> 0:09:42.240
<v Speaker 3>But that woman, the mother, she died by asphyxiation. She

0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:45.000
<v Speaker 3>was absolutely alive when she was buried.

0:09:45.200 --> 0:09:50.600
<v Speaker 1>So when you hear that, you would go, well, that person.

0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:53.400
<v Speaker 1>Even if you're not an advocate of the death penalty,

0:09:53.400 --> 0:09:56.360
<v Speaker 1>you hear somebody as guilty of that, you would go, Okay,

0:09:56.440 --> 0:09:58.440
<v Speaker 1>I guess I get it. This is who the death

0:09:58.480 --> 0:10:03.560
<v Speaker 1>penalty is for. However, there are questions. Now we need

0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:06.760
<v Speaker 1>to talk about mister Montgomery, who was also convicted, who

0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:10.680
<v Speaker 1>was actually convicted and is currently walking free.

0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:15.360
<v Speaker 2>Yes, so his cohort, James Montgomery, was convicted and sentenced

0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:19.280
<v Speaker 2>to death as well, but he was freed more than

0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:23.240
<v Speaker 2>ten years ago in twenty fifteen, because an appeals court

0:10:23.360 --> 0:10:27.480
<v Speaker 2>ruled he should have been given a separate trial from Carruthers.

0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:31.080
<v Speaker 2>They were tried together, and because of that he was

0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:35.080
<v Speaker 2>set free. Literally is walking the streets right now.

0:10:35.360 --> 0:10:37.960
<v Speaker 1>So we should make clear this is another part of

0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:40.480
<v Speaker 1>why folks are saying Caruthers should not be executed. He

0:10:40.520 --> 0:10:44.360
<v Speaker 1>represented himself at trial. Now that sounds nuts in a

0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:48.280
<v Speaker 1>capital case, in a death penalty case, how and why

0:10:48.320 --> 0:10:53.679
<v Speaker 1>would you allow someone to represent himself? Well, apparently, I

0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:57.560
<v Speaker 1>think it's at least six or seven defense attorneys he

0:10:57.640 --> 0:11:01.360
<v Speaker 1>was assigned. He couldn't cap a good relationship with him,

0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:04.360
<v Speaker 1>and he went through that many and the judge said, Nope,

0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:06.720
<v Speaker 1>not going to give you another finally at the end.

0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:09.480
<v Speaker 1>So I'm not sure how much of his trial he

0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:13.080
<v Speaker 1>represented himself, but he didn't have a fair obviously he

0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:15.240
<v Speaker 1>didn't do it with the death pill on the line,

0:11:15.280 --> 0:11:18.280
<v Speaker 1>you can't represent yourself. So that is another argument they're

0:11:18.280 --> 0:11:22.840
<v Speaker 1>making for why he shouldn't be executed tonight. Correct this evidence.

0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:25.400
<v Speaker 1>I mean, there's another one of those things robes. I

0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:28.600
<v Speaker 1>always say, oh, why not take another beat? If he's

0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:31.800
<v Speaker 1>been on death row this many years, then give us

0:11:31.800 --> 0:11:33.840
<v Speaker 1>a week to do some testing. I don't know why

0:11:33.880 --> 0:11:34.480
<v Speaker 1>I can argue with that.

0:11:34.520 --> 0:11:37.600
<v Speaker 2>And that's what the ACLU and Kim Kardashian had been

0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:40.679
<v Speaker 2>pleading with the governor to allow to allow some time

0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:44.960
<v Speaker 2>to really dig into these fingerprints and to just ensure

0:11:45.240 --> 0:11:47.400
<v Speaker 2>that they have the right guy, that there isn't another

0:11:47.520 --> 0:11:48.520
<v Speaker 2>killer out there.

0:11:49.800 --> 0:11:52.400
<v Speaker 1>All right, even if they get the prints back robes,

0:11:52.440 --> 0:11:55.000
<v Speaker 1>and even if they match somebody else, it doesn't exonerate

0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:59.160
<v Speaker 1>and doesn't throw out It maybe starts a new process.

0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:01.800
<v Speaker 1>What about the families now having to go through this again.

0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:04.720
<v Speaker 1>They finally made it to this day and he's talking

0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:07.360
<v Speaker 1>about this is going to be held up. The governor

0:12:07.400 --> 0:12:09.199
<v Speaker 1>there at least said he is not going to step

0:12:09.240 --> 0:12:12.080
<v Speaker 1>in where things are right now, robes legally, and how

0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:14.560
<v Speaker 1>many options he has in a court right now? We

0:12:14.600 --> 0:12:17.319
<v Speaker 1>know how the Supreme Court usually is, so not expecting

0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:19.840
<v Speaker 1>much there maybe so he's running out of options. And

0:12:19.880 --> 0:12:23.160
<v Speaker 1>this is not tomorrow night, this is tomorrow morning morning. Yeah.

0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:25.000
<v Speaker 2>And the father of one of the victims, by the way,

0:12:25.000 --> 0:12:28.160
<v Speaker 2>we always want to acknowledge where they are on this.

0:12:29.000 --> 0:12:32.000
<v Speaker 2>He actually just told a Memphis station, I forgive him

0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:34.920
<v Speaker 2>for killing my son, and may God have mercy on

0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:37.920
<v Speaker 2>his soul. But it's time that he meets his maker.

0:12:38.000 --> 0:12:41.840
<v Speaker 2>So he wants him. He wants this execution to go forward.

0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:45.160
<v Speaker 2>And look, we heard from the governor of Tennessee yesterday.

0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:49.400
<v Speaker 2>He made an official announcement and he said he took time,

0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:53.560
<v Speaker 2>he said, after deliberate consideration, and he says he thoroughly

0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:54.440
<v Speaker 2>reviewed the case.

0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:57.640
<v Speaker 3>He said, I will not stop this execution.

0:12:58.240 --> 0:13:02.760
<v Speaker 1>And that's certainly something we typically hear from governors. I

0:13:02.760 --> 0:13:05.679
<v Speaker 1>was about to say, southern governors, that's where most of

0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:09.320
<v Speaker 1>the execution fair taking place. I can't imagine him intervening.

0:13:09.360 --> 0:13:13.280
<v Speaker 1>But it's ten or ten thirty tomorrow morning in Tennessee,

0:13:13.400 --> 0:13:15.480
<v Speaker 1>so that would be what eleven eleven thirty our time

0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:20.040
<v Speaker 1>here on the East coast. And again it seems I

0:13:20.040 --> 0:13:23.560
<v Speaker 1>don't know why I think executions need to happen at night,

0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:27.240
<v Speaker 1>but Tennessee's they are. They do theirs in the morning

0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:31.360
<v Speaker 1>to give themselves time for the death warrant in case

0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:34.240
<v Speaker 1>something goes wrong, gains the drug cocktail, isn't right, whatever

0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:37.199
<v Speaker 1>it may be. So tomorrow morning, that's happening.

0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:38.599
<v Speaker 2>All right, And when we come back, we're going to

0:13:38.679 --> 0:13:42.680
<v Speaker 2>tell you about the third and final execution of the week,

0:13:42.880 --> 0:13:46.280
<v Speaker 2>and this one in a state who knows exactly.

0:13:45.679 --> 0:13:47.040
<v Speaker 3>What they're doing and how to do it.

0:13:47.080 --> 0:13:51.280
<v Speaker 2>They're already racking up some significant numbers for this year

0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:54.760
<v Speaker 2>in their executions. But Richard Knight set to die tomorrow

0:13:54.800 --> 0:13:57.760
<v Speaker 2>by lethal injection. Will tell you all about his case

0:13:57.840 --> 0:14:09.560
<v Speaker 2>when we come back. Welcome back, everybody to this episode

0:14:09.640 --> 0:14:14.640
<v Speaker 2>of Amy and TJ. Three executions in three states in

0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:18.640
<v Speaker 2>a matter of two days, and tomorrow evening will be

0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:22.200
<v Speaker 2>the third execution of the week. And it happens in

0:14:22.240 --> 0:14:27.160
<v Speaker 2>a state that is very, very used to making these

0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:27.840
<v Speaker 2>things happen.

0:14:27.880 --> 0:14:29.240
<v Speaker 3>I mean they follow through. There's been a.

0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:32.600
<v Speaker 2>Couple that we've been covering where we've had some last

0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:35.480
<v Speaker 2>minutes days, but it doesn't look like this one is

0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:37.240
<v Speaker 2>going to fall in that category.

0:14:38.120 --> 0:14:41.920
<v Speaker 1>This is I didn't realize how many baby killers there

0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:45.280
<v Speaker 1>are out there. Some of these cases we've gone through

0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:48.360
<v Speaker 1>a mother and a six year old or this month

0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:50.560
<v Speaker 1>old of that. This is another one of those where

0:14:50.560 --> 0:14:53.680
<v Speaker 1>it's just it boggles the mind how anybody is capable

0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:53.920
<v Speaker 1>of this.

0:14:54.040 --> 0:14:58.080
<v Speaker 3>Why you have to kill a child who cannot remember.

0:14:58.160 --> 0:15:00.360
<v Speaker 1>What happened, can identify you.

0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:04.080
<v Speaker 2>Doesn't make any sense other than your evil. There's no

0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:07.280
<v Speaker 2>other way around it. But Richard Knight was convicted in

0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:11.640
<v Speaker 2>the two thousand stabbing deaths of a pregnant woman and

0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:14.800
<v Speaker 2>her four year old daughter. It really doesn't get much

0:15:14.840 --> 0:15:16.800
<v Speaker 2>more vile than that. And he has been sitting on

0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:20.800
<v Speaker 2>death row once again for a quarter of a century,

0:15:21.480 --> 0:15:21.800
<v Speaker 2>and he.

0:15:21.840 --> 0:15:25.240
<v Speaker 1>Is still I do that math. He's only forty seven. Now,

0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:29.800
<v Speaker 1>just a life. I mean, I'm forty eight and this

0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:33.680
<v Speaker 1>guy has been in prison half.

0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:36.200
<v Speaker 3>Of his life, more than a half of his life life, and.

0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:37.720
<v Speaker 1>You just I do I stop some time and think

0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:39.840
<v Speaker 1>about the direction people's lives go. This guy and I

0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:42.200
<v Speaker 1>are about the same age. What was happening to me

0:15:42.880 --> 0:15:45.200
<v Speaker 1>right to twenty three years old versus what he was

0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:47.080
<v Speaker 1>doing at twenty three years old? And where people in now?

0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:49.000
<v Speaker 1>It just seems so young. It's stood out to me.

0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:52.960
<v Speaker 2>And what this is over so allegedly, or I shouldn't

0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:58.160
<v Speaker 2>say allegedly. He was convicted. So basically he was staying

0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:02.160
<v Speaker 2>in the home of his cousin's girlfriend, if that makes

0:16:02.360 --> 0:16:05.680
<v Speaker 2>any sense. So she had had enough and she said,

0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:08.400
<v Speaker 2>you're out of here. I'm kicking you out, You're leaving.

0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:11.400
<v Speaker 2>I want you out of my home. And so he

0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:15.920
<v Speaker 2>went on then to murder Odessia Stevens. She was six

0:16:16.080 --> 0:16:19.520
<v Speaker 2>weeks pregnant at the time of her murder, and her

0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:24.320
<v Speaker 2>four year old daughter, Hanessia. And this again all because

0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:28.160
<v Speaker 2>she told him he had to find another place to live.

0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:33.480
<v Speaker 2>And boy was he enraged because stabbing. I just those

0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:35.560
<v Speaker 2>are the deaths where you know it's personal, there is

0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:38.480
<v Speaker 2>rage involved against the kid.

0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:43.000
<v Speaker 1>You a gainst it. I don't some of these worlds,

0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:46.640
<v Speaker 1>I stop and I question. There's something else. I just

0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:50.360
<v Speaker 1>don't think, no matter how good or bad or even criminal,

0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:53.200
<v Speaker 1>your activity can be a way your mind can work.

0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:56.800
<v Speaker 1>I think it's something else. I just don't comprehend how

0:16:56.840 --> 0:17:00.000
<v Speaker 1>a human is able and capable to do what is

0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:03.520
<v Speaker 1>described happened to this child at the hands of an adult.

0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:06.960
<v Speaker 1>I just human. I just just you're not. You can't

0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:11.639
<v Speaker 1>and there's no brain wired appropriately that can do this.

0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:13.040
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I don't.

0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:13.400
<v Speaker 1>You can't.

0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:14.400
<v Speaker 3>I don't know how.

0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:17.560
<v Speaker 2>Yes, I don't, No matter how angry and how crazy,

0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:23.000
<v Speaker 2>that to me goes beyond anything that's understandable. So Odessa

0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:27.320
<v Speaker 2>Stevens had twenty one stab wounds, fourteen of them were

0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:28.440
<v Speaker 2>in her neck.

0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:32.760
<v Speaker 3>So it's just you. Obviously he wanted her to die.

0:17:32.840 --> 0:17:36.120
<v Speaker 2>And then little Honessia had four stab wounds in her

0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:39.400
<v Speaker 2>chest and neck, and so yes, both of them died

0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:43.240
<v Speaker 2>in excruciating death. And right now, look, there's not much

0:17:43.320 --> 0:17:45.879
<v Speaker 2>chance that he's going to have a stay either, but

0:17:45.920 --> 0:17:49.440
<v Speaker 2>his attorneys have argued that his execution should be delayed

0:17:49.480 --> 0:17:54.200
<v Speaker 2>once again over fingerprints. They say there's a fingerprint on

0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:56.639
<v Speaker 2>one of the knife blades that was used in the

0:17:56.640 --> 0:18:01.240
<v Speaker 2>attacks that hasn't been identified, and they want time to

0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:03.800
<v Speaker 2>test this fingerprints. I'm just wondering, like, in all of

0:18:03.800 --> 0:18:08.920
<v Speaker 2>these cases, these aren't recent murders, these aren't recent convictions.

0:18:09.280 --> 0:18:12.280
<v Speaker 2>Why oh why do we wait until the eleventh hour

0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:15.800
<v Speaker 2>to start saying, wait a minute, there's still DNA that

0:18:15.920 --> 0:18:19.040
<v Speaker 2>hasn't been tested or hasn't been identified. And I understand

0:18:19.040 --> 0:18:22.479
<v Speaker 2>that we have new technology that allows for different kinds

0:18:22.480 --> 0:18:25.080
<v Speaker 2>of testing in different ways to look at at evidence

0:18:25.080 --> 0:18:25.840
<v Speaker 2>that we didn't.

0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:26.399
<v Speaker 3>Have at the time of the trial.

0:18:26.560 --> 0:18:29.320
<v Speaker 2>Understand that, but it's been around for a while now,

0:18:29.400 --> 0:18:32.320
<v Speaker 2>so I just don't know, you know, if it's just

0:18:32.359 --> 0:18:35.480
<v Speaker 2>a delay tactic, you're just delaying the inevitable. But I

0:18:35.560 --> 0:18:38.720
<v Speaker 2>know that is oftentimes what we see. This is attorneys

0:18:38.760 --> 0:18:39.639
<v Speaker 2>doing their jobs.

0:18:40.040 --> 0:18:43.119
<v Speaker 1>We want to get it right right, but at some

0:18:43.160 --> 0:18:48.080
<v Speaker 1>point you gotta cut this thing off. This is kind

0:18:48.119 --> 0:18:51.359
<v Speaker 1>of an extraordinary There aren't really that many This is

0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:53.879
<v Speaker 1>going to be what twelve thirteen and fourteen or thirteen

0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:54.480
<v Speaker 1>fourteen fifteen.

0:18:54.480 --> 0:18:55.800
<v Speaker 3>I think it's thirteen fourteen fifteen.

0:18:56.119 --> 0:18:59.080
<v Speaker 1>These will be yes up to the fifteenth execution so

0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:04.120
<v Speaker 1>far this year. The numbers scheduled right now on the books, Robes,

0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:06.240
<v Speaker 1>I don't know if it would take us up to

0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:10.119
<v Speaker 1>the total that we saw last year. But as we say,

0:19:10.160 --> 0:19:13.200
<v Speaker 1>and as we've seen certainly with our guy down.

0:19:13.040 --> 0:19:15.680
<v Speaker 2>In Florida, DeSantis, you put in front of him, he'll

0:19:15.720 --> 0:19:19.000
<v Speaker 2>sign it, yes, and so yes, this final one in Florida,

0:19:19.080 --> 0:19:23.439
<v Speaker 2>we already know Governor DeSantis is not going to be

0:19:23.600 --> 0:19:28.120
<v Speaker 2>that phone call ringing at five point fifty nine into

0:19:28.160 --> 0:19:32.080
<v Speaker 2>the Florida Correctional Facility to say stop the execution. That is,

0:19:32.280 --> 0:19:35.440
<v Speaker 2>we know this governor, we know how he operates, and

0:19:35.640 --> 0:19:39.400
<v Speaker 2>I'm sure I'm sure that Richard Knight's attorneys are very

0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:40.800
<v Speaker 2>well aware of that as well.

0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:44.920
<v Speaker 1>So here you go, Robes, on the numbers. At least

0:19:45.560 --> 0:19:49.560
<v Speaker 1>Florida only has one execution scheduled the rest of the

0:19:49.680 --> 0:19:50.280
<v Speaker 1>year after this.

0:19:50.320 --> 0:19:53.720
<v Speaker 3>For now, only one as of yet.

0:19:53.760 --> 0:19:57.080
<v Speaker 1>Is on the books for June. But how many remind me, oh,

0:19:57.080 --> 0:19:58.480
<v Speaker 1>I'm sorry, how many? Last year?

0:19:58.680 --> 0:20:01.080
<v Speaker 3>Nineteen in Florida andty seven was the forty seven?

0:20:01.160 --> 0:20:04.000
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, right, yeah, somewhere around, but again, at the pace

0:20:04.080 --> 0:20:06.080
<v Speaker 1>the country is on right now, and those that have

0:20:06.160 --> 0:20:14.160
<v Speaker 1>been scheduled after today, there are only nine more scheduled three, four, five, six, seven,

0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:17.480
<v Speaker 1>eight nine, Only nine more on the books for the year,

0:20:17.560 --> 0:20:20.199
<v Speaker 1>which would take us up then to twenty four for

0:20:20.359 --> 0:20:23.280
<v Speaker 1>the year, which would cut in half almost how many

0:20:23.320 --> 0:20:25.080
<v Speaker 1>we saw last year, which is.

0:20:25.240 --> 0:20:31.080
<v Speaker 2>Forty seven forty seven executions across eleven states, and nineteen

0:20:31.119 --> 0:20:36.240
<v Speaker 2>of those, or forty percent of the executions, happened in Florida.

0:20:36.480 --> 0:20:40.360
<v Speaker 2>And last year twenty twenty five was the highest number

0:20:40.520 --> 0:20:43.560
<v Speaker 2>of executions in one year since two thousand and nine.

0:20:44.080 --> 0:20:46.879
<v Speaker 1>So we will see how the rest of the year looks.

0:20:46.880 --> 0:20:50.560
<v Speaker 1>But man, if we kept up averages three in two days,

0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:53.000
<v Speaker 1>that's happened in the country and we need to all

0:20:53.000 --> 0:20:55.520
<v Speaker 1>be paying attention again one of them. At least in Tennessee.

0:20:55.600 --> 0:20:57.600
<v Speaker 1>Folks are fighting to stop it, but at least there's

0:20:57.640 --> 0:21:01.080
<v Speaker 1>not a governor that's suggesting that they're going to step in,

0:21:01.200 --> 0:21:03.480
<v Speaker 1>and no court right now it seems likely to step

0:21:03.520 --> 0:21:05.720
<v Speaker 1>in either. We'll keep an eye on it, folks, but

0:21:05.840 --> 0:21:08.440
<v Speaker 1>as always, we appreciate you spending time with us. I'm TJ.

0:21:08.480 --> 0:21:11.040
<v Speaker 1>Holmes on behalf of My Dear Amy Robot. We'll talk soon.