Prisoner's Final Death Row Interview Before Execution | Our Life

Bill do you regret what you did was you there you say something if you wasn't there a Texas death row inmate once described as having a heart full of scorpions faces execution Billy Wayne Coble is condemned to die by lethal injection are you frightened he's a cold-blooded killer and he deserves to die and I've been granted Billy's last interview his life hangs by a thread I'll be with his friends and family victims of his brutal crime I feel sorry for somebody like this they prepare for Billy's Final hours Nelly what's happening in the countdown to his execution obviously something went terribly wrong in there for the Cobra family excuse me sir as the execution gone ahead good Saturday to Central Texas I hope you're having a great weekend so far it's definitely been a little warmer today than it has been our temperatures in the middle 80s Waco at 86 right now the death penalty is legal in 29 States across the U.S and around half of all Americans are in favor of it Texas is the execution Heart of America more people are put to death here than in any other state which is why I'm here to talk to those prisoners who are fighting for their lives and to the people who want them to die [Music] I'm going to be meeting Bill Coble whose execution date is set for next week and borrowing a last minute stay of execution he knows that he faces political injection of drugs and I just wonder what is it like knowing knowing you're about to die in a week's time [Music] cobal slayed three innocent members of the same family in 1989 and has been languishing on death row ever since [Music] he's being held here at the infamous death row penitentiary in Livingston Texas alongside the other 212 men the state has condemned to die ain't no good light here below death row seventy-year-old Billy is fighting for a last-minute stay of execution yeah I'd like to see that walking up too [Music] if it fails in just eight days he'll be the oldest man to be put to death in Texas for 100 years there hi Bill I'm Susanna all right you definitely have an English accent I definitely have an English accent yeah Bill do you count the number of days months and years that you've been here about 29 years are you frightened about next week well death is death a person said one time and said that's a horrible way of dying as if what is a good way could you tell me what a good way is to die I have known probably about 400 people that's been executed and I remember every one of them the longer you lived the easier it is to accept death who is not going to leave this world aren't we all you're absolutely right but not many of us know when or how and you know those two facts but do you still hope that there might be some last minute stay of execution for you I don't have the luxury or the desire to give it any thought I mean I have to live for this moment when you reflect now on the reason that you've spent almost 30 years here on death row it was for an act of extreme violence do you regret what you did that day do you understand and feel the horror of what happened was you there whatever what do you speak again is it the truth what happens what happened you say I did I did I did I did I did how can you say something if he wasn't there but Bill you accept that you're guilty of those murders don't you I accepted I did the emergency yes I've accepted that I'm here for those murders yes [Music] relatives say the motive was Revenge a 40 year old man out on bond went on a shooting rampage killing three of his in-laws on the 29th of August 1989 Billy Coble drove to the small town of axtel in Central Texas he was on the hunt for his estranged wife Karen vicker who was threatening to divorce him [Music] when Billy arrived at Karen's she wasn't home instead he would end up killing her brother father and mother the bloody night came to a violent end when the suspect crashed his car some 60 miles away he's in custody and murder charges are pending at the time of the murders the vicar family lived on the same street was 11 at the time of the vicious attack tell me what happened that day myself and my cousin who's around the same age as me Heather we were on school nurse and I didn't get off the bus at my house because I knew my dad would be at work so I got off the bus and went to my aunt's house and I remember going to the house and Bill was there you know in the house waiting so you went into the house said hi to Bill what happened next you use some rope or something and tied us all to the bed pose like with our hands behind our back and then he put duct tape on her mouths were you scared you know I guess at that age your mind doesn't go to those places because you don't think that stuff happens now Billy left the children tied up headed off to Ambush and kill Bobby vicker Jr's father judge Ralph Strother was the prosecutor at Billy coble's trial Barbie had been a Waco police officer and he'd gotten off work that day and had gotten home and was doing working around his his Ranch and Billy Wayne Coble caught Bobby out in the open there and was able to wrestle his service revolver away from him put it right under his neck and practically decapitated him when he shot him foreign that day and then came back to the house where you were all tied up right children were tied up right did you notice anything about him at that point that was different I remember he kept he kept kind of bragging about how he was going to be on America's Most Wanted yeah it's a sociopath is what you'd call it narcissistic by this time Jr's father and grandfather were already dead but Billy wasn't finished he went back across the street to the home of Jr's grandmother Zelda [Music] until Mrs vicker had come home from work and he gunned her down ambusher right there she never knew what happened Aaron kidnapping her in his car after a police chase they crashed and Billy was finally caught against the odds both Billy and Karen survived as you look ahead to the date when he may be executed what goes through your mind it will be good to have it over with we don't feel sorry for him at all you know he was even after the wreck you know he was bragging at the hospital to the nurses do you know I just killed three people three people huh yeah foreign so you know just chopped his army why do you think he would say that had no idea and he didn't seem to be affected by the fact that he'd just killed your father no he didn't no no I mean can't feel sorry for somebody like that [Music] I've dealt with the criminal justice system for 40 years and a Cobalt case was one of the most brutal uh of any I've ever handled frankly he's a cold-blooded killer he's evil and he deserves to die hi good can I prepay for pump nine please okay I'm in Huntsville Texas a small rural Town that's home to America's busiest execution chamber [Music] how long have you lived in Huntsville oh my life how does it affect Huntsville that it's not just prisons which are here but you have the whole death chamber I don't think the normal first in the Huntsville hey that much attention to it really it just kind of life goes up since the death penalty was reintroduced in 1976 the state of Texas has executed 559 people and Billy Wayne Coble is set to be next in just six days Halloween Coble at age 70 is scheduled to become the oldest man executed in Texas during the modern era of the death penalty the murders of Waco Police Officer Bobby vikka and his two parents rocked the Central Texas community in the short time left those affected by this case are still asking why on the 29th of August 1989 a day that seemed like any other Billy ruthlessly murdered his three in-laws and then kidnapped his estranged wife Karen vicker I feel like there are so many unanswered questions about what happened do you want to just tell me Bill what happened that day no it to you it matters to some people it matters to me it really no longer matters did you love your wife Karen we all have emotions and there's many different things you can arouse our emotions a beautiful flower can arouse your emotions did you love her though I meant my Karen when she was about 16 17 years old didn't see her again until she was probably about 34 years old were you angry that she didn't want to be with you anymore it's amazing that was never said before but it was always said afterwards as she'd ever said it before she never said what before you just said she didn't want to be with me no more what she said before Karen was Billy's third wife and they married in 1988. Karen worked at a jewelry store and Billy at a local drive-in movie theater after less than a year of marriage Karen asked for a divorce the alleged trigger for the gruesome crimes against the vicar family were you aware of the tension between Billy and Karen people were being a little different but I didn't know why and I didn't think too much of it well what did you think about Billy what kind of a man was he well uh he and my aunt were married for less than a year so wasn't around him that much but from what I saw of him I never had any problems with him of course now I know that was kind of an act there has to be an explanation for what he did it wasn't just a situation where somebody snaps and does something out of character I mean this wasn't like a a heat of passion type crime like he planned it he had gone shopping bought supplies he built a silencer for his gun this was you know premeditated [Music] do you feel that what you had that day was some kind of Rage that you couldn't control he's keep going back to that moment but these were three people that you knew and had affection for [Music] do you feel bad about what you did well I feel bad about what I did and what the world's done we've had about a lot of things I'm not talking about other things I'm talking about the murder of Bobby and his parents yes I feel bad that uh circumstances have got to a point where they shouldn't have gotten I feel bad about killing the first person I killed in Vietnam I see them just just vividly just as clear as I did the day that it happened but I can never go back and change that [Music] Billy's four years of service in the Vietnam War were mentioned in his first trial but no link was established between this and the lingering psychiatric issues he experienced on his return home his lawyer is appealing for a last-minute stay of execution on the basis Billy suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome foreign Billy served in Vietnam at the same time as his best friend James Steele bill was in the Marines and most of Marines had it for uh and you're young and scared to death and not knowing what's going to happen when the war ended in 1975 the number of men in the American prison system with a military background Rose sharply it peaked in 1985 when more than one in five inmates was a veteran I could have flashed back from Vietnam I don't know but knowing Billy like I knew him something bad had to happen for him to do what he did because Billy Wayne wasn't that type person what do you think now about Bill no I don't I really don't know how to describe it just a horrible person you know to do something like this there are thousands of people that have shot people in war and don't do stuff like this you know I don't buy that as an excuse um I think that's just a legal tactic what if Billy [Music] Billy his mother was mentally ill and was removed to an institution when Billy was seven he spent the rest of his childhood in a care home alongside James I'm pretty sure Billy missed out on love when he was a child when your parents ain't there and they don't want you that'll work on your head [Music] with his first wife Billy had a son Gordon Billy Wayne wanted to be a daddy I made a good daddy and he was [Music] and Coach kids and baseball and you know just do what fathers should do spend time with their kids [Music] soon was younger no matter where I was no matter what I was doing I would like to have my son with me I tried to always make sure he knew that I always loved him I always wanted to be with him and I wanted him to be the best he could be how is it when you see your son Gordon it must be emotional for you both it's probably much harder on him and to cope with this and you called daddy first lick my [Music] claims to adore his child could also Slaughter three innocent people Billy's son Gordon was 14 at the time of the murders he's now married with two grown sons of his own when all that happened when my father he was uh hard times a lot of people didn't realize that you know things they say and words they say that can really really affect people there's no winners in any of this [Music] Gordon's sons have grown up only seeing their grandfather Behind Bars we put our hands up to the glass and then that's how we say Hi and then buy but I wish I can hug them I wish I could do a lot of things with them but I can't there's now just days until Billy Billy injection and Gordon only has two more chances to spend time with his father it's not gonna be easy but it ain't nothing like any animal I've been through so much more take a square on the chin and face it head on I guess but uh I know it's definitely hard to sit there and watch your father and be put to death I don't wish I had on nobody no one should have to go through that hello what can I get you um let me get some tea I have sweet tea oh yeah I can't have a shirt okay here you go that's a lot of sweet tea yeah thank you let's exercise [Music] I'm on the outskirts of Huntsville Texas a place that holds an average of one execution a month Huntsville being the death penalty capital of America I'm okay with it honestly I do support lethal injection I suppose supporting it is one thing it actually been taking place because 15 minutes away is kind of for me that's a slightly chilling thought that it happens so close and if you're directly connected to the case I mean that's a horrible thought isn't it there but for the grace of God well that's probably why I support the death penalty is because I had it happen in my family somebody they were brutally murdered stabbed over 20 times and it was a regular customer at a convenience store who came in every day and ordered a cup of coffee and she give it to him and he just lost it one day if you've taken a life without reason then it's wrong [Music] that Billy Coble will be put to death nearby for Billy coble's family and the family of his victims it's life-changing and yet it's just part of the fabric of the life of this death chamber town Huntsville is a fairly typical college town except over a quarter of its residents are behind bars and huntsville's seven prisons are the lifeblood as the area's biggest employer that's the Walls Unit and that's where the death chamber is right there Billy will die in this prison that sits just off the town's Main Street and it's a really chilling feeling knowing what happens there and what's about to happen there [Music] he'll wait out his final hours in a small Bleak cell known as the death house just feet from the chamber from 1924 the state used this electric chair for its executions nicknamed old Sparky it was built by prison workers and killed 361 inmates during its 40 years of use now Texas uses lethal injection widely considered to be more humane [Music] a representative of the state Witnesses every execution Robert Hearst has seen around 40. once he's got to the Huntsville Unit what will happen to bill then a team of our security officers will escort him to the execution chamber he is then placed on the gurney tied down and the intravenous line is placed into his arm and he is prepared for the lethal injection and then who administers the injection there is a team behind a one-way window mirror they're the team that administers the injection Most states use a three-drug cocktail in their executions but after a nationwide shortage in 2012 Texas switched to a single dose method now they use the sedative pentobarbital state currently has 10 Doses stockpiled and Billy will be injected with one of them how long will it take for Bill to die after the injection is administered I've seen some executions where an offender is pronounced dead within about 10 to 12 minutes I've also seen some executions where the offender is not pronounced dead until sometimes 35-40 minutes later foreign [Music] execution life around here carries on as usual so how would you describe execution day here in Huntsville [Music] support absolutely yes the death penalty is expensive longer trials and increased legal fees cost taxpayers here an average of 2.3 million dollars per case around three times more than housing an inmate in prison for 40 years this town has been a prison town for years and years and the people here knows what happens and you know it it doesn't really have an effect on the day-to-day life here no it doesn't make you feel uncomfortable does not just another day well yeah you do the crime you pay long long way forward down to Bailey I really didn't think about the death penalty Perry but it's different when it's somebody you know somebody you love it makes you think and now I can see both sides of it Knocking me down Billy Coble waited for his death to 28 years that's almost double the national average around he spent the past decade living in solitary confinement 22 hours a day seven days a week people treat the dogs better than that could you imagine living in a 8 by 10 cage the rest of your life he said the only time he touched human hands is when they handcuffed that ain't right but many feel the rights that really matter in this case are those of the victim's family and Billy's execution will be Justice for the Vicars Billy's son Gordon daughter-in-law Nelly and their two sons are facing the reality that unless his appeal for a stay of execution is successful these next few days will be Billy's last you went to see Bill this morning and it's obviously extremely distressing yes yes how are you gonna get through the next few days I just try to be there for them all you know especially the boys because that's their grandpa jumble of emotions you're feeling of course of course now how would anybody expect me to sit there and watch somebody take my Dad's life you don't want to just her wall pull him down and help you she's done wrong and I understand that and I'm not excusing that one bit I I I my father knows that that was wrong and let him live out his days in the prison himself to me that don't make a lick sense to take another life you're going through your own kind of hell now though aren't you one of the hardest things I've read to do I just hope I can be strong for him be there for me pray every day that that phone call comes and get to stay and I worked on every cell block now things are going good but then they transferred me to lsues my head's absolutely spinning I feel enormous Sympathy for the family none of them are responsible for the crimes of their father their grandfather and yet they're experiencing the effects of those crimes none of this changes the fact that on that Dreadful August day in 1989 Bill Coble took a gun and went and murdered Bobby vicker estranged wife's parents they're the innocent victims in this Horror Story and their trauma has lasted 30 years attacked this death row inmate once described as having a heart full of scorpions faces execution the Texas Board of Pardons and paroles denied requests yesterday to delay his execution Kabul is set to be executed tomorrow [Music] the state of Texas has refused to delay Billy Wayne coble's execution now his last and final hope is the Supreme Court and their verdict won't be reached until the 11th Hour I don't know what to think you seem to have it under control in your own head you don't seem to be frightened no there's no reason to be if I take the next step or not I have no my lawyers in California and I have no way of talking so I don't know what's going on between now and then but if I'm here on March the 1st then I will try to be a better person and if the vicar family expected an apology from you before you're executed okay if you want me to to give a a uh some type of uh like rehearse apology or something I mean I've already said that I regret what happened now I truly regret what happened but I also truly regret what happens to a lot of things in life and you don't want to take this opportunity to say sorry to the victims but seeing it to you is not saying it to a victim say to you I'm really speaking to the people you're going to be showing this to how would that help them what if they never see the interview how do you want to be remembered bill I've never thought of it it really doesn't matter to me personally because if I'm dead I'm with God in it's not going to concern me anymore you understand I mean I'm not going to be here and what do you feel about your son being there to witness your last moments I want him to be there for himself but to me no I'd really just soon nobody be there I mean you know it's just you have to remember the person not the body Bill we're out of time well thank you very much for talking to us well thank you for talking to me you're welcome [Music] oh death Billy Wayne Cooper will have woken up this morning knowing that it's his last day and right now is the last chance for Gordon to spend a few hours with his dad they have a final hope resting with the U.S Supreme Court who could issue a stay of execution right up to the last minute so they can be closer to him Billy's family is spending time at the hospitality house a charity for families of the incarcerated it's just real hard a lot of emotions a lot of Hope a lot of ups and downs it's just all over the place what did your dad say to you this morning help me love me we had a good visit we laughed and talked and remember those times at 17 Hunter is too young to be present tonight did you see your granddad today what we were able to talk with him about he wished he wasn't locked up in there and we could get in a truck with him just drive away and have fun we're still hopeful that there might be stay before it's carried out this evening hopefully there is you prepared if that doesn't happen not really [Music] but if it happens it happens and we just gotta live through it I told you that the visit was over [Music] it's gonna be okay I promise you would be okay [Music] well whatever you think about what Gordon's father has done it is impossible not to feel compassion for Gordon and his family [Music] [Music] by noon Billy's final visits with friends and family are over he is now being prepared to be transported the 40 miles west from Livingston to the wars Unit Prison I'm right outside the walls unit and a crowd is gathering in anticipation of tonight's event once again Texas will commit murder Behind These red brick walls [Music] so this is where it could all end for Billy Coble his life hangs by a thread but he has one last hope today that the U.S Supreme Court will grant a stay of execution [Music] it's just a couple of hours until the scheduled execution what happens in the next two hours well for the next two hours the offender who is here in the holding cell behind me has the opportunity to talk on the phone with folks meet with attorneys sometime in the next 15-ish minutes or so he'll be served final meal which is actually whatever it is that's on the menu for today at this unit we're in constant communication with the courts and the governor's office at some point once we receive the sign off that all the appeals have been exhausted then the process would begin the death warrants active at 6 pm [Music] [Applause] five minutes [Music] it's just coming up to five o'clock in the afternoon and the U.S Supreme Court has just posted on their website the application for stay of execution of sentence of death is denied that was Billy coble's last chance and it's gone which means he will be executed in just over an hour's time [Music] a group of Waco police officers and Veterans have come to salute the family of their murdered colleague Bobby vicker [Music] who about Bill being executed what will it bring for you first of all I think he deserves it I think it's very important that he doesn't get to choose how he dies because my grandparents and my dad didn't he took that away from them so I think he should go through the same mental anguish knowing that he's about to die I hope he's going through that right now [Music] time has now run out for Billy Wayne the cobal family are called in for his final moments by 6 PM the death warrant is active between now and midnight Billy Coble is set to die it's an incredibly unsettling feeling knowing that the execution is going ahead right now and someone that I've met someone that I've had an encounter with is being put their day [Music] drama here announced about the last minute in the execution of Billy Coble I will get back to you with more on that as soon as we know more the lethal injection of pentobarbital should now be taking effect what's happening so this is what they did me to kicked me to pick me up yeah me and [ __ ] cuss they kicked me in the head I'm [ __ ] sick excuse me sir is the execution going ahead yes okay we don't know what happened inside but clearly there's been some kind of Confrontation Gordon and his son Dalton have been handcuffed and led away at shouting screaming extremely distressed and Nelly also in handcuffs this is crazy we knew that Gordon was finding it very hard anticipating the execution of his father but I wasn't expecting that obviously something went terribly wrong in there for the Cobra family the state of Texas has executed Billy Coble inmate number 976 he did provide a final statement yes sir that will be five dollars I love you I love you and I love you take care any questions why was Gordon LED away um there was a disturbance Gordon Coble started banging on the glass and had to be removed I can share with you that both Gordon and Dalton Coble are currently in custody of the Walker County jail and will be charged with resisting arrest and potentially other charges at 6 24 PM Karen vicker was inside to witness Billy Wayne Coble took his last breath we asked that just as you have kept us in your prayers you pray for peace for everyone affected today while we grieve the amazing lives that were lost too soon we find joy in the blessings and love we have in our family Nelly Susanna what's happening [Music] what are you expecting to do [Music] thank you [Music] there's an air of it's all come to an end [Music] I'm not sure whether the vicar family feel closure the cobal family clearly in great distress and for Huntsville The Walls Unit closes its doors and it's on with another day the execution of one man the ending of his life just a fact of life here and there'll be another one next month [Music] ago I brought Billy from Livingston to the death chair and I talked to them a good hour and it was just like talking to him like we'd been talking every day [Music] he didn't show no fear no chain in his voice or nothing and he said you may not understand this but I'm at peace and I'm happy and now more after I think about it the way he was caged up like that I can understand he was probably ready to go I'll always love him whatever he did this is not me see believe better than this only [Music] what you've been through must have affected your whole life actually well yeah I mean of course that changes the trajectory of your life I lived with my dad and next to my grandparents what do you plan to do afterwards we're just going to the casino in Oklahoma and we're all just gonna hang out and relax just do something together and celebrate a little bit you think yeah which is a kind of must be an odd feeling because you're celebrating a death maybe um it's just knowing that it's finally over maybe we'll all feel a little better afterwards you know it doesn't change what happened um but knowing that he finally got what he deserves you know that would be a good feeling [Music] thank you [Music]

Channel: True Lives

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Keywords: our life, documentary, world documentary, documentary channel, award winning, life stories, best documentaries, daily life, real world, point of view, story, full documentary, documentaries, real life, death row, execution, jail, prison, death row interview, death chamber, texas, death row inmate, death row documentary, final interview, susanna reid, usa jail, usa prison, prison documentary, jail documentary, billie wayne coble

Id: ykqzGEAZTb8

Length: 45min 30sec (2730 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 04 2022