00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Tuesday, October 13th, and James Robertson killed a guy back in 2008. And he says he did it because he wanted the death penalty, because he wanted to be executed. The state of Florida is going to oblige Mr. Robinson in just a few hours. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ, a story so fascinating that even Netflix profiled this guy. Robes, he wanted to go to death row. He got there, and today is his execution.
00:00:36
Speaker 2: I feel like it's almost as if the state of Florida is calling his bluff, because the reason why he killed someone is because he was already in prison and didn't like his conditions. Heard that the guys on death row had it way better than him.
00:00:50
Speaker 1: And apparently they did.
00:00:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, that is true. We watched the documentary, and it is fascinating to see that somehow The cruelest and the most violent of criminals in our prison system, as they await the death penalty, get the nicest accommodations. And so, yes, this dude, James Robertson, was incentivized, he claims, to go ahead and just off his cellmate so he could upgrade his room.
00:01:17
Speaker 1: And it works. And Robes, we watched this. We'll get into more of this show on that. A lot of people might know it already. I Am A Killer is the name of it. Rope, it's been going for six seasons. It's arguably a hit of some kind that they had on their hands. So they put six seasons worth of it together. This guy was season one, episode one. He was featured. He was the first guy featured to launch this show. And Rope's listening to him talk. It is scary to think that individuals are walking around who have this mindset of, Or are this messed up in the mind, you could argue?
00:01:55
Speaker 2: I think that's why it's such a hit, because people are fascinated with evil, with folks who are unabashedly cruel and only there for their own benefit. Every decision they make in their life is how they can make their lives better, and the cost... for anyone else to accommodate those wishes, be damned. And I think just to see people who operate in the world like that, to literally be witnessing evil is fascinating. And I hope we can learn something from it. I think most people want to be able to discern that in the people maybe sleeping in bed next to them or living next to them or walking by them. Can we anticipate or even see who these people are in society?
00:02:41
Speaker 1: You said two words that jumped out at me, fascination and evil. Rose, I stop short a lot of times, right? This person had a bad upbringing. This person had a bad moment. This person reacted in some way, right? People make bad decisions. It's rare that I sit and I listen to someone and I think there's nothing there but evil. Like you said, I'm fascinated that there are possibly people walking in the street who have this mindset. And Robes, we know selfish people. Everybody knows people who are all about themselves or selfish. I don't care the consequences. Me, me, me, me, me. But when you apply that to somebody who even says, you know what, for the convenience of going to another cell, It's worth it to me just to kill this guy. Robes, for no other reason to think life is that expendable and nothing to you just so I can get a room upgrade. Robes, this is fascinating.
00:03:39
Speaker 2: Because you're watching somebody and you're listening to somebody who's smiling and laughing with menacing teeth. He's a scary looking dude. But you're watching somebody who basically, and I do believe monsters are created in who has lost all hope, who has no, and just doesn't give a damn, doesn't give a damn about his own life, but he does care about what's happening right now to him and how he feels right now. And so everything else is there for his taking because nothing has been given to him. And so he's just going to take what he wants and he doesn't give a rat's ass Who has to pay the price?
00:04:17
Speaker 1: Well, James Robertson is going to pay the price today at noon. As of this recording, we're a few hours away from an execution, yes, a daytime, a noontime execution of James Robertson. We'll explain why this one was at noon today. There was another one supposed to be at 6 o'clock tonight. We'll explain that in just a moment. But James Robertson, Robes, is going to be now the 17th execution of the year in Florida. This will, again, happen at noon for James Robertson. The nickname is Chickenhead. Don't have a good explanation for why this bald guy. They call him James Chickenhead Robertson. And Robes, like you said, he's 63 now. He's essentially been in prison since he was 17 years old.
00:04:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's been in and out of prison for burglary, assault, attempted murder, all sorts of violent crimes. But he hadn't actually committed a murder until he went into prison. And yes, we don't know. I actually tried to find out why he was called Chickenhead. And they just said, There is no explicit or direct explanation for his nickname. It's just something he got while he was in his decades-long stint in prison.
00:05:27
Speaker 1: So I need to ask one of his soulmates or somebody in prison.
00:05:30
Speaker 2: In jail, in prison, he acquired this nickname Chickenhead.
00:05:33
Speaker 1: So 1980, right? Well, they say he was 17 when he first went into prison. But he never got out, Robes, because he kept adding to his prison time because of things he was doing in prison. It's one thing to read about it, but the documentary went into it more. Robes, he has a long list of everything you name. An escape, an assault, fights, on and on to where he never got out of prison. Although he should have if he just would have served out his sentences, but he kept... Robes, this is a hardened guy who almost... It seems like he didn't know anything else and he didn't want to be anywhere else. If you go into prison at 17 and today you are 63 and your life is going to end, that is horrible.
00:06:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, he made choice after choice after choice. Clearly there was nothing... waiting for him on the other side. There was no one who was encouraging him to better his life and that there was hope on the other side because he hadn't done anything, at least initially, that was going to make him a lifer in prison. But he made choices to create that for himself, which is just beyond comprehension. And I think that obviously that's why he was episode one, season one of this show, because Who does that to themselves? Who is their, I mean, look, we all are our own worst enemy oftentimes, but literally he chokes it time and time again.
00:06:56
Speaker 1: So Robes, he's in prison since 1980. Here comes 2008 and he's just over it. And what he sees, Robes, are the guys on death row living it up, if you will. They have to be, they're a smaller community, so they have to be separated. So they have a different camaraderie and brotherhood and peace and calm, and they're not fighting all the time. Robes, we've heard some of these death row inmates, their final words, they give a shout out to the brothers on the row, kind of a thing. Robes, he said he had things taken away from him in his cell and What did he call it? He was on some special... Watch. Special watch.
00:07:43
Speaker 2: It was close watch or close monitoring, I believe is what it was called. CM.
00:07:47
Speaker 1: So he was such a troublemaking inmate that they had a closer watch on him. And he had certain privileges even taken away that some of the prisoners had. So he says in December in 2008, he had enough. I see how well they're living over their own death row, including having their own TV. I believe he said, right? In their rooms over there. I want that life. How can I get on death row? I'll kill my cellmate. Yep.
00:08:13
Speaker 2: So he strangled his cellmate. His cellmate's name was Frank Hart. And he did it by tying socks together and strangled. He said he looked at the guy. And he said, I can overtake him. And they showed his picture on the documentary. He was an older, frailer man. And this dude was younger and fitter and stronger and said, yeah, I can physically overtake him. So, yeah, I'll just strangle him at night and I'll get on death row.
00:08:41
Speaker 1: And it worked. So he goes to court. He pleads guilty, waves the sentencing phase where a jury would have decided, Are you going to get the death penalty or are you getting life in prison? Waved it. Asked for the death penalty. And after some back and forth over the years, it was granted. So he's officially been on death row since 2012.
00:09:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, and his quotes in this series are just so eerie because he's laughing when he says it because he's like, oh, you're shocked, right? Like he loves the power. You could just see that that made him feel good to take someone else's life because he controlled his destiny in that moment. He had no control over his life. And this was the one thing he could do. And he was proud of it. He said, it was premeditated all the way. I don't feel bad about it. And that's when he laughed. Like, you're shocked, right? You're shocked that I don't feel bad about it. And he's laughing. Then he says, I just got to the point where I said, fuck that shit. I'm going on death row.
00:09:45
Speaker 1: Gross. It's to hear someone speak about life in such a dismissive manner as if it's nothing Robes, I just, we've all watched, I guess, some documentaries, true crime stuff over the years where you get some insight. or some interview with a killer. Robes, this is chilling stuff from this guy because there are moments, Robes, almost that he shows flashes of charm and personality. of who he was or at least could have been. There was a 16, 17-year-old kid in there somewhere. Didn't they say he started getting in trouble? His first arrest was 12? Yes.
00:10:21
Speaker 2: And I said that to you. I said, I just keep looking at him and thinking, if someone had loved him, if someone had given him some reason to live, some reason to do better, be better, it's just sad to see a human being turn into a monster like that. And he is a monster.
00:10:39
Speaker 1: And we have to, Robes. I This is one, who cares about his victim? Who's going to show up? Is somebody going to show up for Frank Hart? I saw one, I think Frank Hart's son might have said something. But Rose, we look at this and all right, no harm, no foul. We're getting one out of prison. He what? He killed another guy. I think the other guy was there for sexual battery, right?
00:11:04
Speaker 2: He said he was a child molester, so he didn't feel bad about killing him. That's what he said in the documentary.
00:11:09
Speaker 1: But this is another one of those. All of these death row and execution days, they bring some different moral dilemma or it gives you a different reason to feel something differently. One bad dude killed another bad dude. And the first bad dude is going to be executed today. Let's all move on. Is that what we feel about today?
00:11:32
Speaker 2: I guess, and he feels like he got his nearly 18 years in the accommodations he wanted, so it seems like he felt like it was a fair trade-off.
00:11:43
Speaker 1: Well, stay with us, folks. It is a very busy, yes, time in this country for conversations about the death penalty, but it also robs a very busy time in death chambers all over the country. Stay here. We'll explain how Florida is now on the cusp of setting a new record and why very soon we're gonna have one day and three executions.
00:12:16
Speaker 2: Welcome back everyone to Amy and TJ. Florida's 17th execution of the year is taking place today on Tuesday at noon. His name is James Robertson. And if you want to see him, hear from him directly, you got a whole episode basically to watch. We watched it yesterday. It's pretty chilling. It's pretty remarkable. It's on Netflix. I Am A Killer is the name of it, and he is. Season one, episode one, and yes, this is a man who chose his fate. I guess it was the only power he felt like he had to upgrade his room by murdering his cellmate and getting himself on death row.
00:12:57
Speaker 1: Wasn't the right thing for them to do is say, nah, we're going to give you life. Yeah. And stick you in the worst cell we can find.
00:13:03
Speaker 2: Absolutely. He got what he wanted out of it, and he was smiling and laughing about it. That's That's got to be a tough pill to swallow, but maybe, maybe he thought he would be one of those inmates who would get to spend 40 years, 50 years on death row. And maybe the joke's on him because he is getting, if everything goes according to plan today, he's going to, he will have been on death row for less than 20 years, which is actually. less than the average stay.
00:13:27
Speaker 1: Was it 2012 was the conviction? What is that, 14 years?
00:13:31
Speaker 2: Yeah. What would have been wonderful if he had been maybe moved, maybe got a year and went straight to the death penalty at that, or straight to the execution chamber at that point, that would have been just because he did it not to die necessarily, he did it to get the death row accommodations.
00:13:47
Speaker 1: You know what? That would have been the better solution.
00:13:49
Speaker 2: Kill him quickly.
00:13:50
Speaker 1: You want to waive it? Take him from the courthouse over to the jail. Not a fan, not an advocate, not advocating for death row, but robes, you make the point. We always make that point, don't we? Use it if you got it.
00:14:03
Speaker 2: Well, what appeals do you need? He's admitted to it. He said he did it. He said he doesn't feel bad about it, and he did it to make his life better. So what more, what appeals process do you need?
00:14:14
Speaker 1: There's some standard ones that have to be done, but after that, he He waived a bunch of them and still took 14 years. Right?
00:14:21
Speaker 2: That's kind of remarkable. But look, his execution takes place at noon today, but there are plenty of other executions basically on cue or in the queue.
00:14:32
Speaker 1: In the queue. Florida, in particular, has two more. Let's speak on Florida first. Right now, today, at least, as of noon, if this execution goes forward, we should note Florida uses a three execution. drug cocktail for their lethal injection, not a one drug like Tennessee uses. Of course, that botched execution of Krista Pike that just took place. And Robes, this year, this would be 17. I'm trying to think of there being an incident in the previous 16.
00:15:00
Speaker 2: With Florida?
00:15:01
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:15:01
Speaker 2: I can't recall.
00:15:02
Speaker 1: One at all. If this is at noon by 12.07, they'll have a note out saying he did is how it's been going down there in Florida. But yes, they have two more robes. If they go through, then that would be 19 for the year. That would tie their record from last year. However, we know he will sign a death warrant that comes across his desk. Is he going to get, this is his last year in office, baby. Is he going to get a couple more? Because they have to have 30 days between him signing and the execution. So he has time.
00:15:31
Speaker 2: He has time to sign some more and to actually beat last year's record. And it was a part of his campaign promise to victims' families, that he was going to basically get a lot of these lifers, it seems like, on death row who had been there for 30, 40, one even almost 50 years. And so, yes, he has been executing men, inmates in their 70s, one even at the age of 80. He has, I mean, that has been the majority, at least this summer, it was One 70-plus-year-old after another who had been on death row for decades and decades with their victims' families waiting all that time, some of them not living to see the day where their loved one's killer was actually put to death.
00:16:16
Speaker 1: 50 years is crazy. 50 years is crazy. This took 14. That's a while. That's long. I just always see it as your punishment is the death penalty. That's what the family is told, that that is justice and that's what they want. Okay. Is it okay for it to take 30 years for you to get that justice?
00:16:39
Speaker 2: I don't think so.
00:16:40
Speaker 1: I liken it to the same thing. That person was sentenced to 50 years in prison, but they don't have to start their sentence for another 20 years. You would go, that's bullshit. That's what the death penalty, that's how we apply it. It's not justice if you don't apply.
00:16:57
Speaker 2: It for 50 years. Yeah, we should have some sort of like, you know, and with the execution must take place within 10 years. Like there should just be like 10 years.
00:17:05
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's not a bad plan.
00:17:07
Speaker 2: Like I understand that you want to make sure that all the appeals that are afforded to anyone who is sentenced to something that is irreversible, I understand we need to make sure we get it right. But if we're going to have this on the books, there should be some sort of a, of a cap on how long is too long.
00:17:26
Speaker 1: 50 years is 40 years is 30 years is, um, We mentioned, so yes, next week, Robes, Florida will have another on October the 20th. So that's next Tuesday. Have that white. That's right. That's a William Reeves Jr. And then on November 5th, how many days have we had? We had one other day where there were three this year?
00:17:45
Speaker 2: We had definitely had one other day this summer where there were three executions in three separate states on the same day. And they all went off without a hitch, I believe. But yes, November 5th, we have Michael Taylor executed in Alabama. November 5th, we have Jeffrey Weisheit in Indiana being executed. And November 5th, we have Jesse Guardado in Florida being executed. So that will be number 19 for Florida. They were going to have 20 when they got to that, but there has been a change, a surprising change in the execution schedule for today.
00:18:21
Speaker 1: Yes, there were supposed to actually be two executions today in Florida. One at noon, one at six. The second one has been called off. That is not something we see happen in Florida. Certainly something we don't see happen with DeSantis. But next up on our feed, we will have the story of this other execution that's been called off. And Robes, the backstory on this guy is stomach turning, but also his current Health. It seems mean. To be executing a guy who's described to be in the shape this guy is. Was he 77?
00:19:03
Speaker 2: He's in his 70s. But it's interesting you use the word mean because, yes, when you hear his condition, you will think that it would be mean to execute a man who is in his poor health. But his crime was described as one of the meanest crimes ever known. A juror passed out. Imagine that.
00:19:25
Speaker 1: Fainted.
00:19:26
Speaker 2: During trial, hearing what he did to a young woman. So this is a hell of a story. Again, we'll have it up next in our feed. And this is the rarest of the rare. This is the first time Governor DeSantis has commuted a death sentence, a warrant he signed just weeks prior. And we'll explain what went down five days. days ago. But in the meantime, we always appreciate you listening to us. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ Holmes. We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Tuesday, October 13th, and James Robertson killed a guy back in 2008. And he says he did it because he wanted the death penalty, because he wanted to be executed. The state of Florida is going to oblige Mr. Robinson in just a few hours. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ, a story so fascinating that even Netflix profiled this guy. Robes, he wanted to go to death row. He got there, and today is his execution.
00:00:36
Speaker 2: I feel like it's almost as if the state of Florida is calling his bluff, because the reason why he killed someone is because he was already in prison and didn't like his conditions. Heard that the guys on death row had it way better than him.
00:00:50
Speaker 1: And apparently they did.
00:00:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, that is true. We watched the documentary, and it is fascinating to see that somehow The cruelest and the most violent of criminals in our prison system, as they await the death penalty, get the nicest accommodations. And so, yes, this dude, James Robertson, was incentivized, he claims, to go ahead and just off his cellmate so he could upgrade his room.
00:01:17
Speaker 1: And it works. And Robes, we watched this. We'll get into more of this show on that. A lot of people might know it already. I Am A Killer is the name of it. Rope, it's been going for six seasons. It's arguably a hit of some kind that they had on their hands. So they put six seasons worth of it together. This guy was season one, episode one. He was featured. He was the first guy featured to launch this show. And Rope's listening to him talk. It is scary to think that individuals are walking around who have this mindset of, Or are this messed up in the mind, you could argue?
00:01:55
Speaker 2: I think that's why it's such a hit, because people are fascinated with evil, with folks who are unabashedly cruel and only there for their own benefit. Every decision they make in their life is how they can make their lives better, and the cost... for anyone else to accommodate those wishes, be damned. And I think just to see people who operate in the world like that, to literally be witnessing evil is fascinating. And I hope we can learn something from it. I think most people want to be able to discern that in the people maybe sleeping in bed next to them or living next to them or walking by them. Can we anticipate or even see who these people are in society?
00:02:41
Speaker 1: You said two words that jumped out at me, fascination and evil. Rose, I stop short a lot of times, right? This person had a bad upbringing. This person had a bad moment. This person reacted in some way, right? People make bad decisions. It's rare that I sit and I listen to someone and I think there's nothing there but evil. Like you said, I'm fascinated that there are possibly people walking in the street who have this mindset. And Robes, we know selfish people. Everybody knows people who are all about themselves or selfish. I don't care the consequences. Me, me, me, me, me. But when you apply that to somebody who even says, you know what, for the convenience of going to another cell, It's worth it to me just to kill this guy. Robes, for no other reason to think life is that expendable and nothing to you just so I can get a room upgrade. Robes, this is fascinating.
00:03:39
Speaker 2: Because you're watching somebody and you're listening to somebody who's smiling and laughing with menacing teeth. He's a scary looking dude. But you're watching somebody who basically, and I do believe monsters are created in who has lost all hope, who has no, and just doesn't give a damn, doesn't give a damn about his own life, but he does care about what's happening right now to him and how he feels right now. And so everything else is there for his taking because nothing has been given to him. And so he's just going to take what he wants and he doesn't give a rat's ass Who has to pay the price?
00:04:17
Speaker 1: Well, James Robertson is going to pay the price today at noon. As of this recording, we're a few hours away from an execution, yes, a daytime, a noontime execution of James Robertson. We'll explain why this one was at noon today. There was another one supposed to be at 6 o'clock tonight. We'll explain that in just a moment. But James Robertson, Robes, is going to be now the 17th execution of the year in Florida. This will, again, happen at noon for James Robertson. The nickname is Chickenhead. Don't have a good explanation for why this bald guy. They call him James Chickenhead Robertson. And Robes, like you said, he's 63 now. He's essentially been in prison since he was 17 years old.
00:04:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's been in and out of prison for burglary, assault, attempted murder, all sorts of violent crimes. But he hadn't actually committed a murder until he went into prison. And yes, we don't know. I actually tried to find out why he was called Chickenhead. And they just said, There is no explicit or direct explanation for his nickname. It's just something he got while he was in his decades-long stint in prison.
00:05:27
Speaker 1: So I need to ask one of his soulmates or somebody in prison.
00:05:30
Speaker 2: In jail, in prison, he acquired this nickname Chickenhead.
00:05:33
Speaker 1: So 1980, right? Well, they say he was 17 when he first went into prison. But he never got out, Robes, because he kept adding to his prison time because of things he was doing in prison. It's one thing to read about it, but the documentary went into it more. Robes, he has a long list of everything you name. An escape, an assault, fights, on and on to where he never got out of prison. Although he should have if he just would have served out his sentences, but he kept... Robes, this is a hardened guy who almost... It seems like he didn't know anything else and he didn't want to be anywhere else. If you go into prison at 17 and today you are 63 and your life is going to end, that is horrible.
00:06:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, he made choice after choice after choice. Clearly there was nothing... waiting for him on the other side. There was no one who was encouraging him to better his life and that there was hope on the other side because he hadn't done anything, at least initially, that was going to make him a lifer in prison. But he made choices to create that for himself, which is just beyond comprehension. And I think that obviously that's why he was episode one, season one of this show, because Who does that to themselves? Who is their, I mean, look, we all are our own worst enemy oftentimes, but literally he chokes it time and time again.
00:06:56
Speaker 1: So Robes, he's in prison since 1980. Here comes 2008 and he's just over it. And what he sees, Robes, are the guys on death row living it up, if you will. They have to be, they're a smaller community, so they have to be separated. So they have a different camaraderie and brotherhood and peace and calm, and they're not fighting all the time. Robes, we've heard some of these death row inmates, their final words, they give a shout out to the brothers on the row, kind of a thing. Robes, he said he had things taken away from him in his cell and What did he call it? He was on some special... Watch. Special watch.
00:07:43
Speaker 2: It was close watch or close monitoring, I believe is what it was called. CM.
00:07:47
Speaker 1: So he was such a troublemaking inmate that they had a closer watch on him. And he had certain privileges even taken away that some of the prisoners had. So he says in December in 2008, he had enough. I see how well they're living over their own death row, including having their own TV. I believe he said, right? In their rooms over there. I want that life. How can I get on death row? I'll kill my cellmate. Yep.
00:08:13
Speaker 2: So he strangled his cellmate. His cellmate's name was Frank Hart. And he did it by tying socks together and strangled. He said he looked at the guy. And he said, I can overtake him. And they showed his picture on the documentary. He was an older, frailer man. And this dude was younger and fitter and stronger and said, yeah, I can physically overtake him. So, yeah, I'll just strangle him at night and I'll get on death row.
00:08:41
Speaker 1: And it worked. So he goes to court. He pleads guilty, waves the sentencing phase where a jury would have decided, Are you going to get the death penalty or are you getting life in prison? Waved it. Asked for the death penalty. And after some back and forth over the years, it was granted. So he's officially been on death row since 2012.
00:09:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, and his quotes in this series are just so eerie because he's laughing when he says it because he's like, oh, you're shocked, right? Like he loves the power. You could just see that that made him feel good to take someone else's life because he controlled his destiny in that moment. He had no control over his life. And this was the one thing he could do. And he was proud of it. He said, it was premeditated all the way. I don't feel bad about it. And that's when he laughed. Like, you're shocked, right? You're shocked that I don't feel bad about it. And he's laughing. Then he says, I just got to the point where I said, fuck that shit. I'm going on death row.
00:09:45
Speaker 1: Gross. It's to hear someone speak about life in such a dismissive manner as if it's nothing Robes, I just, we've all watched, I guess, some documentaries, true crime stuff over the years where you get some insight. or some interview with a killer. Robes, this is chilling stuff from this guy because there are moments, Robes, almost that he shows flashes of charm and personality. of who he was or at least could have been. There was a 16, 17-year-old kid in there somewhere. Didn't they say he started getting in trouble? His first arrest was 12? Yes.
00:10:21
Speaker 2: And I said that to you. I said, I just keep looking at him and thinking, if someone had loved him, if someone had given him some reason to live, some reason to do better, be better, it's just sad to see a human being turn into a monster like that. And he is a monster.
00:10:39
Speaker 1: And we have to, Robes. I This is one, who cares about his victim? Who's going to show up? Is somebody going to show up for Frank Hart? I saw one, I think Frank Hart's son might have said something. But Rose, we look at this and all right, no harm, no foul. We're getting one out of prison. He what? He killed another guy. I think the other guy was there for sexual battery, right?
00:11:04
Speaker 2: He said he was a child molester, so he didn't feel bad about killing him. That's what he said in the documentary.
00:11:09
Speaker 1: But this is another one of those. All of these death row and execution days, they bring some different moral dilemma or it gives you a different reason to feel something differently. One bad dude killed another bad dude. And the first bad dude is going to be executed today. Let's all move on. Is that what we feel about today?
00:11:32
Speaker 2: I guess, and he feels like he got his nearly 18 years in the accommodations he wanted, so it seems like he felt like it was a fair trade-off.
00:11:43
Speaker 1: Well, stay with us, folks. It is a very busy, yes, time in this country for conversations about the death penalty, but it also robs a very busy time in death chambers all over the country. Stay here. We'll explain how Florida is now on the cusp of setting a new record and why very soon we're gonna have one day and three executions.
00:12:16
Speaker 2: Welcome back everyone to Amy and TJ. Florida's 17th execution of the year is taking place today on Tuesday at noon. His name is James Robertson. And if you want to see him, hear from him directly, you got a whole episode basically to watch. We watched it yesterday. It's pretty chilling. It's pretty remarkable. It's on Netflix. I Am A Killer is the name of it, and he is. Season one, episode one, and yes, this is a man who chose his fate. I guess it was the only power he felt like he had to upgrade his room by murdering his cellmate and getting himself on death row.
00:12:57
Speaker 1: Wasn't the right thing for them to do is say, nah, we're going to give you life. Yeah. And stick you in the worst cell we can find.
00:13:03
Speaker 2: Absolutely. He got what he wanted out of it, and he was smiling and laughing about it. That's That's got to be a tough pill to swallow, but maybe, maybe he thought he would be one of those inmates who would get to spend 40 years, 50 years on death row. And maybe the joke's on him because he is getting, if everything goes according to plan today, he's going to, he will have been on death row for less than 20 years, which is actually. less than the average stay.
00:13:27
Speaker 1: Was it 2012 was the conviction? What is that, 14 years?
00:13:31
Speaker 2: Yeah. What would have been wonderful if he had been maybe moved, maybe got a year and went straight to the death penalty at that, or straight to the execution chamber at that point, that would have been just because he did it not to die necessarily, he did it to get the death row accommodations.
00:13:47
Speaker 1: You know what? That would have been the better solution.
00:13:49
Speaker 2: Kill him quickly.
00:13:50
Speaker 1: You want to waive it? Take him from the courthouse over to the jail. Not a fan, not an advocate, not advocating for death row, but robes, you make the point. We always make that point, don't we? Use it if you got it.
00:14:03
Speaker 2: Well, what appeals do you need? He's admitted to it. He said he did it. He said he doesn't feel bad about it, and he did it to make his life better. So what more, what appeals process do you need?
00:14:14
Speaker 1: There's some standard ones that have to be done, but after that, he He waived a bunch of them and still took 14 years. Right?
00:14:21
Speaker 2: That's kind of remarkable. But look, his execution takes place at noon today, but there are plenty of other executions basically on cue or in the queue.
00:14:32
Speaker 1: In the queue. Florida, in particular, has two more. Let's speak on Florida first. Right now, today, at least, as of noon, if this execution goes forward, we should note Florida uses a three execution. drug cocktail for their lethal injection, not a one drug like Tennessee uses. Of course, that botched execution of Krista Pike that just took place. And Robes, this year, this would be 17. I'm trying to think of there being an incident in the previous 16.
00:15:00
Speaker 2: With Florida?
00:15:01
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:15:01
Speaker 2: I can't recall.
00:15:02
Speaker 1: One at all. If this is at noon by 12.07, they'll have a note out saying he did is how it's been going down there in Florida. But yes, they have two more robes. If they go through, then that would be 19 for the year. That would tie their record from last year. However, we know he will sign a death warrant that comes across his desk. Is he going to get, this is his last year in office, baby. Is he going to get a couple more? Because they have to have 30 days between him signing and the execution. So he has time.
00:15:31
Speaker 2: He has time to sign some more and to actually beat last year's record. And it was a part of his campaign promise to victims' families, that he was going to basically get a lot of these lifers, it seems like, on death row who had been there for 30, 40, one even almost 50 years. And so, yes, he has been executing men, inmates in their 70s, one even at the age of 80. He has, I mean, that has been the majority, at least this summer, it was One 70-plus-year-old after another who had been on death row for decades and decades with their victims' families waiting all that time, some of them not living to see the day where their loved one's killer was actually put to death.
00:16:16
Speaker 1: 50 years is crazy. 50 years is crazy. This took 14. That's a while. That's long. I just always see it as your punishment is the death penalty. That's what the family is told, that that is justice and that's what they want. Okay. Is it okay for it to take 30 years for you to get that justice?
00:16:39
Speaker 2: I don't think so.
00:16:40
Speaker 1: I liken it to the same thing. That person was sentenced to 50 years in prison, but they don't have to start their sentence for another 20 years. You would go, that's bullshit. That's what the death penalty, that's how we apply it. It's not justice if you don't apply.
00:16:57
Speaker 2: It for 50 years. Yeah, we should have some sort of like, you know, and with the execution must take place within 10 years. Like there should just be like 10 years.
00:17:05
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's not a bad plan.
00:17:07
Speaker 2: Like I understand that you want to make sure that all the appeals that are afforded to anyone who is sentenced to something that is irreversible, I understand we need to make sure we get it right. But if we're going to have this on the books, there should be some sort of a, of a cap on how long is too long.
00:17:26
Speaker 1: 50 years is 40 years is 30 years is, um, We mentioned, so yes, next week, Robes, Florida will have another on October the 20th. So that's next Tuesday. Have that white. That's right. That's a William Reeves Jr. And then on November 5th, how many days have we had? We had one other day where there were three this year?
00:17:45
Speaker 2: We had definitely had one other day this summer where there were three executions in three separate states on the same day. And they all went off without a hitch, I believe. But yes, November 5th, we have Michael Taylor executed in Alabama. November 5th, we have Jeffrey Weisheit in Indiana being executed. And November 5th, we have Jesse Guardado in Florida being executed. So that will be number 19 for Florida. They were going to have 20 when they got to that, but there has been a change, a surprising change in the execution schedule for today.
00:18:21
Speaker 1: Yes, there were supposed to actually be two executions today in Florida. One at noon, one at six. The second one has been called off. That is not something we see happen in Florida. Certainly something we don't see happen with DeSantis. But next up on our feed, we will have the story of this other execution that's been called off. And Robes, the backstory on this guy is stomach turning, but also his current Health. It seems mean. To be executing a guy who's described to be in the shape this guy is. Was he 77?
00:19:03
Speaker 2: He's in his 70s. But it's interesting you use the word mean because, yes, when you hear his condition, you will think that it would be mean to execute a man who is in his poor health. But his crime was described as one of the meanest crimes ever known. A juror passed out. Imagine that.
00:19:25
Speaker 1: Fainted.
00:19:26
Speaker 2: During trial, hearing what he did to a young woman. So this is a hell of a story. Again, we'll have it up next in our feed. And this is the rarest of the rare. This is the first time Governor DeSantis has commuted a death sentence, a warrant he signed just weeks prior. And we'll explain what went down five days. days ago. But in the meantime, we always appreciate you listening to us. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ Holmes. We'll talk to you soon.
