Killing Death Row: 5. What’s the Cost?

The people of Jasper sought the death penalty for the brutal men who murdered James Byrd. But the cost of the trial was crippling and served as a warning to other small districts. In this episode, we’ll examine how cost plays a part in the number of US executions, as does a better understanding of institutional racism. Join Livvy Haydock as she takes us deep into Death Row in the USA. While support for the Death Penalty in the US remains at over 50 per cent, there’s been a steady decline in executions – from the modern era peak of 98 in 1999 to just 20 in 2023 so far. Only a handful of states actually carry out the killings. It’s even become more difficult for executioners to get hold of the drugs used in lethal injections, which is what led Livvy Haydock to a surreal story about a man in Acton, West London, who was supplying these lethal drugs to state penitentiaries in the US, and on to the macabre world of Death Row – and the people who live, work, and die on it. Whether it’s the hunt for new lethal injection supplies, or the tip of the glasses that mark an executioner’s signal, Livvy goes right behind the scenes into the chamber itself to examine the pressures on the system that have left just 5 US states actively carrying out executions this year and around 2,400 Death Row prisoners in limbo. We’ll hear from an inmate waiting to die, and one saved at the last moment. We’ll chat to the wardens who make it happen, and the campaigners who want to stop it. And throughout it all, we’ll discover the possible future for Death Row in the only western democracy still carrying out capital punishment.

New episodes released weekly. If you’re in the UK, listen to Gangster Presents… Killing Death Row first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/40W5Chz

Archive: KTVT-TV

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Anna Meisel Researcher: Ella Rule Sounds design and mix: Richard Hannaford Editor: Clare Fordham Production coordinator: Janet Staples