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Gangster

Killing Death Row: 1. The Hunt for Lethal Drugs

Gangster

BBC

True Crime, Documentary, Society & Culture

4.81.4K Ratings

🗓️ 13 October 2023

⏱️ 31 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

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 the number of 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 bizarre 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 Sounds design and mix: Richard Hannaford Editor: Clare Fordham Production coordinator: Janet Staples

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to introduce myself.

0:03.7

My name's Stevie Middleton and I'm a BBC Commissioner for a Load of Sport Podcasts.

0:08.4

I'm lucky to do that at the BBC because I get to work with a leading journalist, experienced

0:12.2

pundits and the biggest sport stars.

0:14.3

Together we bring you untold stories and fascinating insights straight from the players'

0:18.5

mouths.

0:19.5

But the best thing about doing this at the BBC is our unique access to the sport world.

0:25.0

What that means is that we can bring you podcasts that create a real connection to

0:28.8

dedicated sports fans across the UK.

0:31.0

So if you like this podcast, head over to BBC Sounds where you'll find plenty more.

0:35.2

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.

0:40.0

You're about to listen to Ganks to present Killing Death Row.

0:45.3

Episodes will be available weekly wherever you get your podcasts, but if you can't wait

0:50.8

and you're in the UK, you can listen to the full series right now, first on BBC Sounds.

0:58.8

I just would take my glasses off in the execution or would start.

1:03.7

It gets to be retained to take those glasses off and give that signal.

1:08.1

But the first time I did it was an unbelievable feeling.

1:18.3

Right now there are around 2,400 prisoners in US penitentiaries on Death Row.

1:27.5

The United States is the only Western democracy where you can be executed.

1:33.1

It's an issue that polarises opinion.

1:38.3

Nevertheless, there's a whole infrastructure in place to make sure so-called legal homicide

1:44.5

can happen there.

...

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