Page 22 - Execution Chamber News Today

It was nothing like that. its all messed up. man, its messed up. it sucks. >> stateville has long been home to some of illinois most violent offenders. the vast majority of prisoners are in for murder or violent assault. >> its hard, man. i mean, prison aint nothing nice, you know, but it aint like its they fault, you know. you live a life of crime, this is where youre going to end up. >> stateville has housed its share of infamous criminals. john wayne gacy, convicted of murdering 33 young men ...

>> this aint no joke. they execute people here, and if you dont work on your case on death row theyll march your ass over there and strap you to that table and murder you. on death row our cells are a little bigger than populations, but id rather have one of them smaller cells. [ bleep ], id rather go home. >> richie recalled the last time he watched a fellow inmate leave death row for the execution chamber. >> his time came for them to kill him, right? and he was standing in front of my cell, y...

>> an inmate will be escorted into the cell. there is no property allowed in the cell. everything he would have had in his cell would have been confiscated. if he needs to use the phone, we will allow him to use the phone. his mail is brought to him. he has an opportunity to read it. passes it back out. last year we did one. i think the year before that we probably did three or four. this door leads us into the execution chamber. we actually have three viewing rooms. of course this is the gurney...

>> but utah banned the firing squad in 2004. gardner was grandfathered in. now lawmakers are trying to bring it back. >> a controversial bill passed by lawmakers in utah is getting lots of attention this morning. the bill would allow death by firing squad if there werent enough drugs to carry out an execution by lethal injection. >> heres how the process worked in the past. the inmate was brought into a specifically designed execution chamber, a room 20 feet by 24 feet, strapped to a black chair...

Close to bringing back the firing squad as a way to execute inmates who are sitting on death row. you heard me right, the firing squad. you may remember that it was formally banned in utah. but it was last used in this execution chamber back in 2010. thats when the condemned man, ronnie lee gardner, actually made the choice to be shot to death over lethal injection. that was allowed at the time and that was his choice. so theres a bill right now on the governors desk to bring back the firing squ...

Chamber and place him on the gurney. the microphone is basically used to read the death warrant to the condemned and also to allow the condemned to make a last statement. >> prior to being arrested and going to arraignment, i didnt even know alabama had a death penalty. so, when the judge told me the sentences that i faced, i didnt think he was telling the truth. from that point on, yeah, i knew i was coming to death row. i knew i was going to death row. >> the warden stands at this point to loo...

In my mind at that time, i didnt feel like i had any way out. the next time we got into a fight, as soon as i got him off of me, i started shooting. i didnt stop shooting until the gun was empty. during the fight with me and my father, my stepmother and two stepsisters were in the house. when the fight started, they ran upstairs. my friend went after them. he kicked in a bathroom door. he shot the woman, cut the little girls throat. and he found the other little girl and cut her throat. and when...

The sidebar to that, of course, is the individual is being put to death took a life. >> inside alabamas only execution chamber.

Execution chamber.

Execution chamber. thanks for the ride around norfolk! and i just wanted to say geico is proud to have served the military for over 75 years! roger that. captains waiting to give you a tour of the wisconsin now. couldve parked a little bit closer... its gonna be dark by the time i get there. geico. proudly serving the military for over 75 years.