The Death Bringer: In The Executioner's Shadow | Free Documentary

[Music] from 197 8 to 1999 I sered as the chief executioner I performed 62 executions in the 17 years people that recommend the death penalty the jury the judge if they had to perform the execution I think that they will in light a different story on giving the death pen it to anyone [Music] the United States is the last country in the developed West to execute criminals about 50% of Americans are for the death penalty and 50% against it our capital punishment system is flawed this is not a matter of Vengeance it's a matter of Justice the death penalty We Believe serves as a deterrent capital punishment is Tainted by racial disparity having my father's Killers executed did not bring me a sense of closure is it to restore Society or is it to punish if you take a life shouldn't your life be taken Justice is about us as a society 1982 was my first execution I was a correctional officer one of my main jobs were to saveing lives so when it came down to execution I had to transform myself into a person that would take a life Jerry given was appointed executioner in 1977 when the United States reinstated the death penalty he grew up in the housing projects of Richmond Virginia and remembers one tragic night at a party when I was a teenag I witnessed a young lady uh being shot to death right before my eyes I wanted revenge for the young lady because she was innocent I was totally for the death my thing is that uh if a person take life of another person then that person's life should be taken and that's what I believe Jerry received training to operate the electric chair and later to administer Lethal Injections he became chief executioner in 1982 I would say my team memb must take pride in that work their preparations uh getting this person ready for his next step in life prepare him to just to see his kids for the last time or a Last Kiss of his mother or sister or even his wife or daughter we all are humans you know and this is one human human that had made a mistake and uh we had to carry out the orders outside of his team of eight Jerry told no one about his work as an executioner not even his wife we would keep it a secret and I kept it a secret from my my family since 1977 he and other executioners across the United States have put over 1,460 people to death it's a punishment that's supposed to be reserved for the worst of the [Music] worst it was a gorgeous day it was a beautiful April morning we met some friends in in Boston 23,000 Runners and half a million Spectators gathered for the Boston Marathon Karen brisard her husband and daughter were cheering a friend over the Finish Line we were there for maybe 10 or 15 minutes all excited with the crowd watching everybody come through and just suddenly it was this incred inedibly loud explosion there were seven of us there six of us were injured one of our dear friends lost both of her legs that day I knew that my husband was pretty badly injured my daughter had shrapnel from her hips to her feet and I had trapnel in both of my legs the two blasts injured over 260 people and killed three including Crystal Campbell lingy Lou and 8-year-old Martin Richard police pursued two brothers in a dramatic Manhunt 26-year-old tamran zv was killed in a shootout a day later police captured the younger brother zokar [Applause] alive over the next few month months Karen Ron and their daughter like many of the bombing victims had to undergo multiple surgeries I'm going to try to not let this change who I am I'm not going to let this prevent me from living the life that I want to live I'm not going to be afraid later that summer Karen traveled from her home in New Hampshire to Boston for Zar nv's arraignment at the federal court we were all seated together and he walked out he didn't look at any of us but his hand was obviously injured and my immediate response was I hope that hurts I hope it's painful that was not like me and the recognition of that about me was scary because that isn't who I am zarev pled not guilty to all 30 counts 17 punishable by death the federal prosecutor asked victims if the US should seek the death penalty I don't know I um I don't know I don't know what Justice is I thought I knew terrorist acts are rare much more common are the murders and other violent acts that happen every day across the United States in Philadelphia Shannon sheber was finishing her first year of graduate school she had been up studying it was a early Thursday morning her final exam was Friday morning about 2:00 in the morning she was preparing to take a bath the as salent who uh who attacked her he Pride open her sliding door she screamed for help as she was being attacked the next door neighbor heard that he called 911 neighor he told them that he heard his neighbor Shan scream for help and he heard like a choking sound the police arrived within 20 minutes they knocked on the door but no one answered the next day when Shannon didn't show up for a lunch date with her brother Shawn he drove to her apartment building one of Shannon's neighbors came down and and answered the door and Sean said I'm trying to reach my sister or I can't reach her the guy just went pale he said oh my God I called the police last night and they went running up the steps they broke uh open her door uh and she was laying uh naked on her bed police hello there's a dead person in the apartment by the time we got to Philadelphia though the police were swarming around the apartment building and and they let us know immediately that she had been attacked and and that she had been murdered we were beginning to to face the fact that part of us had died and I mean it it it hit us very quickly I I just remember saying a whole lot of prayers that we'd be able together to get through this that weekend they attended Mass when we got to the Lord's Prayer saying the Lord's Prayer out loud was a real confrontation for me forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us I had to abandon something i' had been saying often probably thoughtlessly thousands of times over my over my life and if anyone would have asked us well what would you want to do if you if you ever found who did this I I just oh I'd be so angry I wanted I'd want him dead too maybe I I don't know I've never had this happen it was just so painful eight days later the sheers buried their 23-year-old daughter what does society do when someone commits a Ric act of violence for centuries Seeking Justice was a community Affair and disproportionate blame fell on the poor mentally disabled and people of color in the 1800s some capital offenses were targeted specifically at slaves establishing a racial bias that continues today executions reached a historic peak in the 1930s averaging 167 per year but then in 1936 a gruesome execution caught the attention of the media on August 14th in Owensboro Kentucky rainy Betha was publicly hanged by a white Sheriff many thought Betha was innocent one New York Times Reporter wrote 10,000 white persons some hearing and others festive saw a prayerful black man put to death today on Davies County's pit and Gallows the outcry over rainy betha's hanging did not put an end to Capital Punishment instead it drove executions behind Prison Walls out of public view State officials built death houses and institutionalized the practice it's a death by formula it's a scripted death in the beginning it was hanging it was not only hanging but it was public and so you see the crowds coming and bringing a picnic lunch and celebrating then we move from hanging to the electric chair and then we began to have the horror stories that happened out of the electric chair and then there's been the move to lethal injection and lethal injection it's like we're going medicinal so that we'll just be putting them to sleep but not everyone agrees the idea that they should go out in an opiate Haze that it should be a pleasant death is absolutely perverse the debate about the death penalty has become increasingly polarized and politicized we want a system that's fair we want a system that respects effects the Dignity of of human beings the idea that we were executing innocent people was terrifying and there was just no way that we hadn't and that we weren't some people kill with an attitude so callous heinous sadistic that they have forfeited their right to live I believe in a deterent of one and that is when we execute this person we know he will never kill again why is it that the death penalty really comes down to in many cases just where you live Who Your da is we can all recognize Injustice when we see it it's people not being treated fairly it's people not getting a fair shot you can be critical of the death penal you can be critical of the idea that the government has the right to kill and also hold compassion and concern for victims maybe in some books of Justice the person for this act deserves to die but do we as a society deserve to kill them today capital punishment largely falls to the state in which the crime was committed and laws and methods vary widely Most states use lethal injection but some still use gas Chambers the electric chair hanging and firing squats [Music] carrying out the death penalty is entrusted to specially trained guards like Jerry given of the 62 executions that Jerry's conducted 37 were by electrocution and 25 by lethal injection lethal injection ction is considered the more Humane form but for Jerry it made the job of killing another person a lot tougher when you talk about execution and electrocution is a button you push and once you push the button the current flows in and the current the current comes out and that's all I had to do was to push a button but when it come down to death by the injection you have seven tubes of chemicals you have four fleshes and three deadly chemicals that is inserted into this man and myself as the Executioner I'm at the end of each syringe I'm pushing the poron down the tube into the body so I'm more attached to this person then it is pushing a button and releasing it and let the current flow by itself 15 days prior to an execution The Condemned would be moved to the death chamber where Jerry and his team worked all nine of us were executioners and we perfect a good execution that's what we were stood by the preparation was mental as well as physical we practice in practice and practice prior to the execution each of us knew our jobs our assignment and we never allow ourselves to get that close to anyone you know we train for that we train this way you don't get that close to them the day of the execution 24 hours prior to that we we have a called a death watch a guy will act differently because he knew that this is the last everything this is the cell where the condemn stays this is where the uh Warden read his death want his clergy person sit with him during this course of the day the condemn is given a shower his last meal his last visitations by 6:00 our preparations will start until uh the inmate is place to death at home in New Hampshire Karen and her family were slowly recovering from their injuries it's not so much the loss of physical abilities things like the loss of especially for me my rose-colored glasses you know um just a reality relationships with people are different than are not the same and even with Ron and I it's different he's working through things and I'm working through things and it had been 6 months since the bombing and Karen had not yet seen her good friend Celeste who was with them at the finish line and lost both her legs in the beginning initially I I couldn't bring my myself to be with C because I felt guilty Celeste and 16 others lost limbs that day Ron was one of the lucky ones doctors were able to save his leg but the trauma and Pain still lingered we're going to have to work for a long time to get to The New Normal whatever that's going to be after months of deliberation Attorney General Eric Holder announced the US would seek the death penalty the defense will argue that zokar was pressured into it by his older brother that he was a popular well-liked college kid LED astray you know he's got to be held responsible and I agree and I and I do believe that but I also think he's 19 he's just a kid stupid I don't know Karen's son was the same age is okar it didn't seem like such a hard decision when it was abstract you know I've got family and friends who are very religious and don't believe in it and then I have others who just say it it's the right thing to do they're so sure I don't know that it's right for me to make that decision to take someone else's life in Philadelphia Shannon's killer was still on the loose the sheers pressed for answers but the police had none it's just like you're in in a coma you I mean you're just like walking through something but you you don't know exactly how you're going to deal with it how am I ever ever going to get through this just this tremendous sense of loss and you know for some time I could visualize Shannon kind of walking through a door just walking in the house and walking through a door saying hi dah and she go me D she was so kind and generous and loving and helpful she always would come to us and say Mom and Dad I have to make a difference sh shn was uh many many things she had a tremendous appetite for learning everybody loved Shannon everybody loved her she was an extremely loving daughter in their grief Vicki and Sil turned to each other and reached out for support this takes time it doesn't you know everybody goes down a different path and a different timeline to this journey support healing they began attending support meetings for families of murder victims there they saw the devastating toll of sorrow and anger the father of one of the murdered daughters we know well took his first drink and he never stopped for a year and he eventually lost his job and a marriage bu Welch's daughter was one of 166 people killed in the Timothy McVey bombing of Oklahoma City one night about about a year later he uh woke up in the morning and he had this dream and his daughter Julie was there telling him Dad Dad he murdered me are you going to let him murder our whole family the sheers also saw the high price people paid for putting their lives on hold as they waited for an execution we started finding out what murder victim's families go through if you decide to say look I want that man executed it would take 15 20 years as much longer for it actually to happen and we just saw the effects that this had on these family members we saw it destroying their lives during his years serving as Virginia's Chief executioner Jerry would hear inmates swear they were innocent when you hear a person going to his deathbed sticking out that he was innocent to the last syringe going into his body he's sticking out that he was innocent on his last words his last breath it gave me something to think about as the Executioner and it placed some doubt there there was one young man in particular Earl Washington Jr he was trying to tell Society back then that he was innocent but yet uh no one really paid no attention to in 1983 Earl was arrested in C pepper Virginia and brought in for questioning he thought it was for a burglary he had committed they say I answer all the question they a bu different crimes and up they said that I say I did them and they not know I going to court for Captain mer raping mer which you call Captain mer which could care a death penal after intense questioning police officers extracted a confession from Earl for the brutal rape and stabbing murder of a 19-year-old mother of three at his trial experts testified that Earl had an IQ of only 69 and was extremely suggestible casting doubt on his confession despite inconclusive evidence the jury found Earl guilty and the judge sentenced him to death he was taken to mecklinburg a supermax prison in Virginia he was scared to death he was timid he didn't want to come out of his cell he's m he he couldn't read he couldn't write I walked him to the cell and if you needed anything bang on the door I'll come and see what you want that was Earl the whole time he was on the road he was scared and timid hardest thing for me when my mom and daddy came to see me at 500 Spring Street most people said they hate to see the mama cry which I did two weeks before Earl's date of execution the guards came to transport him to the death house in Richmond they chained him up put him in the waist chain handcuff shackles and they walked him out literally drugg him out and meanwhile everybody's banging on the doors they they their cuss of the guards Joe reached out to his casew worker Marie Deans to see if anything could be done I call Marie in a panic I said I don't I don't know if this guy did it or not but I don't think he did I don't think this guy knows what's going on when Earl arrived at the death house he was handed over to Jerry I received Earl from mechur and when he came in I gave him carried him to the infirmary he was given a complete physical at that time we only had death by electrocution the chair so he didn't have a choice you can he you can you can he the L twist running through the chill huming every day for the whole week I was there they said they were getting it ready for me I laughed at them when that day came I said well good Lord want me to go I go I guess if he don't I ain't going way working day and night Joe and Marie secured a rare stay of execution Marie was convinced that Earl had been pressured into falsely confessing my work with mentally defendants made me know that this was a what we would call a coerced confession whether it was coerced psychologically or or in some other way did you kill that woman no sir but you told the police that you did yes sir why did you tell the police that you did it I don't know you don't know no sir did you understand then that you were being accused of a murder no sir you didn't understand that no sir new DNA tests proved Earl was not the murderer he was moved off death row but he remained in prison Virginia law at the time did did not allow the introduction of new evidence Jerry heard little about what happened to Earl his Focus was on preparing for the next [Music] execution one year after the Boston Marathon bombing a memorial service brought every one together for the first time when we walked down the road to the sites Ron and I and chrisara stopped at each site and said a prayer a week later Karen and Ron United with survivors at the 2014 Boston [Music] Marathon the they cheered their friend Celeste in a symbolic run across the Finish Line I am angry at what he did and when I see my friends and they struggle and I see other survivors I don't want my decision to be based on how angry I get in those inst es that fall judge OU announced the trial would be held in Boston we have two choices we can either let him stay alive and have his interaction and have his Joys um or put him to death and have that be the end of it they don't get to see their little boy playing baseball anymore or reading him a story at night and this young man is in jail and he's reading stories that he likes he's got books available to him that he enjoys or he meets with his sisters and gets to see pictures of their children growing up and I just don't think it's fair that they have had their their Joys taken away from them and he still is able to experience that Karen decided to attend the trial I want to be there to see Justice in Philadelphia nearly four years after Vicki and sil's daughter Shannon was murdered the police got a lead in 2001 there had been a series of assaults started taking place out in Fort Collins Colorado they put out a a report to police agencies all across the United States so they sent DNA from Shannon's case to Fort Collins the DNA was a match the suspect was married and employed at an Air Force Base so about 8:00 that night 23rd day of April uh 2002 this fellow and his wife walked into the police station and by midnight that night they had a full confession for the Dozen different cases the man they arrested was 29-year-old Troy Graves Philadelphia's elusive Center City rapist Graves was accused of multiple counts of sexual assault and one count of Murder in the death of Shanny and sheber the prosecutor was district attorney Lyn Abraham the prosecutor in the city of Philadelphia who is known as a pretty deadly da in other words she put more people on death row than uh any other prosecutor in Pennsylvania and probably any a large number around the country Troy Graves was found guilty and the district attorney wanted the death penalty but the sheers did not [Music] it meant they would have to fight for the life of their daughter's killer we had said to each other and consulted with our very large families that what would we do if they ever caught him well we would stick to our principles you know if someone was going to want him put to death we were going to argue for life without the possibility of parole the district attorney voiced her disagreement and outrage the district attorney there became very very upset and she became very public with her with her opinion and she said I don't care what the sheers said the death penalty was the appropriate sentence for their daughter's murder why would they not want it for Vicky and Sil the answer was clear we just can't let this anger this natural human anger and pain overwhelm us and and make us so vengeful and and hateful because it would just over time destroy us and we knew that Vicki and Sil received piles of hate mail accusing them of not loving their daughter you know if you can't stand by your principles when it's difficult they're not your principles several years passed before Jerry learned that Earl Washington was not guilty it it had to be like 15 or 20 executions after Earl was released uh from defro that I found out that he was he was innocent I said wow that's that's that's close calling you know he came within days and I would have executed an innocent person our Criminal Justice System supposed to be the best in the world I don't think we'd make those mistakes but yet when you see person like earol Washington something happened there in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 Congress passed legislation to escalate death sentences the result was a dramatic increase in executions by 1999 Jerry was putting to death more more than one person per month the death certificate reads uh death by uh homicide you know it don't make sense I don't want to be consider as a person just committed a homicide but that's what it reads after 62 executions and the only killer that I could see was myself and I refused to look into the mirror he nearly took the life of Earl Washington and couldn't help but wonder if there were others research now shows that for every nine executions there is one inmate found innocent and exonerated one out of 10 who might have been mistakenly put to death nearly 2 years after the bombing the trial was about to begin Karen left her home in New Hampshire early to arrive for the opening statements it was the first time she had seen zarf since the arraignment inside the courtroom Karen and the other survivors were seated just 20 ft away he refused to look at them the defense team would make the case that zokar zarf was unduly influenced by his older brother the prosecutors would argue that he was fully responsible for his actions many victims shared their experiences including the father of 8-year-old Martin who described having to choose between comforting his dying son and saving his daughter over the next four weeks Karen and other survivors relived the horror of the bombing they reached out to each other for support coming to court it was amazing how quickly and how close we all got it was we're like a family but her husband Ron stayed away since the bombing Ron has changed it's a hard thing to watch the man that you love struggle so desperately and be so angry he's just not the same as he was before Federal jury convicted jiar sarv on all 30 counts he was facing for the Boston Marathon bombing in just 11 hours the jury found zarev guilty of all charges now they would decide if he should be put to death the survivors were divided Karen's friend Celeste was for a death sentence the Richards not wanting to go through years of appeals had decided against it it's a long tough process to really examine why you feel what you feel you really have to look at yourself pretty hard to decide [Music] as soon as Vicki and Sil learned the identity of the man who raped and murdered their daughter Vicki wanted to know more I want to I want to know why I want to understand what he did why was this going forward like this what was going on where was his background I have to talk to his mother I I wanted to understand who he was Vicky located Troy Grave's mother and gave her a call we were were on the phone together for many many hours and tears just tears sobbing with each other I said but I want just to understand what you are going through I want to share with what I'm going through and maybe we can help each other and learn from each other and and just come to some kind of peace with all this because God you you must be going through a terrible time you lost your son you know and she says oh Mrs sheber I murdered your daughter Troy Graves mother blamed herself for her son's actions and I said I don't understand what what do you say she said it got more and more violent in our household and my kids would come to me and they'd say please Mommy let's go this is a Bad Daddy's bad I was telling them I can't I don't have a job I don't have you know education I can't support you oh my God how can I be angry Vicki began meeting with inmates on death row she discovered a system of victims on all sides we could just hear sh and say Mom and Dad now that you know about the system the terrible flaws the bias the racial the geographic bias the cost issues they don't get good lawyers just all that that can go on on uh you know what are you going to do about it they began advocating across the country and quickly found that many people thought all victims wanted the death penalty they say that the reason we have to keep the death penalty here is because that's what murder victim's families want that's going to give them peace that's going to give them Justice and and we come in and say not quite we've been through this this isn't the way if you lose Child part of you dies ho heart and uh so you have to you have to kind of learn to live with this whole in your heart either we can continue to dwell on it and kind of well up the the misery and sustain that misery that we uh that that we incurred because of what was going on or we can uh we can try and force things to change to the extent we can they countered their grief by sharing their story and providing testimony that would influence death penalty legislation losing a loved one to murder is a tragedy of unimaginable proportions this all happened her testimony helped Maryland become the 18th state to repeal capital punishment I have told my daughter's story now in 22 different states and I have seen the tremendous effect of this whole system on murder victim's family members and an ongoing tribute to the memory of their daughter Vicki and Sil continue their efforts to end the death death [Music] penalty in Boston nearly 3 weeks had passed since sarf was found guilty but the federal jury had yet to make a decision about whether he should be put to death Karen went to the courthouse nearly every day over the course of the trial she had become one of the main spokespersons in media contacts for the survivors but for now there was nothing to do but wait suddenly a text from a clerk inside alerted her that the jury was close to a decision they're going to be coming down with a verdict anytime now I would prefer it be the death penalty just because I think that that's the fair thing the right thing as awful as that is um I think it's the the just thing so that's what I'm hoping and we are coming on the air because the jury deciding the fate of Boston Marathon bomber johar Zar NV has reached a verdict they have sentenced him to death news of the verdict traveled fast I know that there's still a long road ahead but right now it feels like we can take a breath and kind of actually breathe again you know without even realizing it you're holding your breath and once the verdict came in it was like okay now we can we can start from here and go forward with sar's fate sealed Karen began the long drive [Music] home I don't think it evens the score I don't think that it teaches anybody anything I don't believe that it's going to be a deterrent to the next young man who has anger but I I just think that there's nothing no other choice in my mind that is fair [Music] after 17 years and 62 executions Jerry's time as executioner came to an abrupt end in the midst of preparing for another execution he was subpoenaed by a grand jury and accused of money laundering Jerry claimed he was innocent but the court found him guilty the Sunday after his sentencing Jerry's long held secret about his role as executioner became public they put it in the paper and say the man that carry out executional orders for the state of Virginia was found guilty once it was out I mean I'm exposed so I got to come forward I got to tell my wife is this any the truth about this yeah well I didn't know no cuz I didn't tell you I didn't want you to have to go through what I have to go through while Jerry served his time he learned that Earl Washington received a full pardon and after 17 years was finally released from prison about 4% of the guys that I've executed they stuck out that they were innocent so and then after Earl's case you know placed doubt there to find out that innocent people were there on nefro after serving his time Jerry worked hard to rebuilt his life he began speaking out against the death penalty one of the few executioners to do so we need to do that we need to change and I didn't enjoy killing people so what can we do to prevent these things from happening Jerry thought often about Earl Washington if I ever get to see him I would say I'm you know I'm sorry that I'm glad that things didn't go the way they was planned to go and I'm glad to to see you on this side because I can't apologize to you after I take your life you know after I hit that button that's it I'm glad I didn't get the chance to hit that so I apologize to you for even thinking the way I thought you was guilty Jerry decided to visit Earl to talk with him face to face though it had been many years Jerry and Earl swap stories and quickly rediscovered a shared past dat i in him one date I was at mabury that was in ' 85 okay I went to Richmond 500 Swing Street then okay that's where they had the Lector chair then yeah you know I wonder what what go you know went through your mind you knowing that you was innocent told I told my momma I hated the whole world yeah she said boy I didn't raise you up like this it's it's a good thing that I didn't kill him you know because I don't think I could wear that he he didn't do anything wrong you know so it's is it's something that I would had to face but to see him Crossing that bridge and to meet him and hug him is is a good feeling and if you don't know because you want in my shoes [Music] [Music]

Channel: Free Documentary

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Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, documentary - topic, documentary (tv genre), death row prison documentary, death row documentary, death penalty documentary

Id: zo95cofsEuo

Length: 53min 7sec (3187 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 13 2024