Overnight: 1st Execution of 2026, and He Had A Lot of Last Words
Intimate Knowledge
iHeartPodcasts
3.5 • 697 Ratings
🗓️ 29 January 2026
⏱️ 20 minutes
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Summary
Charles Victor Thompson became the first person executed in the United States in 2026. He's been on death row nearly 30 years in Texas for the murder of his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend. When asked if he had any final words, Thompson took the opportunity and said more than most.
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| 0:00.0 | This is an IHeart podcast. |
| 0:02.5 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:14.4 | Hey there, folks. |
| 0:15.4 | It is Thursday, January 29th, and the first execution of 2026 was carried out last night in Texas, |
| 0:25.4 | and the death row inmate had a lot to say before he was put to death. |
| 0:31.1 | And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and T.J. Roe, I should qualify that, |
| 0:34.8 | a lot to say, relatively speaking. |
| 0:43.8 | He said more than we are used to a lot of death row inmates saying right before they're put to death. Yeah, it might be surprising to many, but at least in the executions we've been covering over this past year, most inmates choose to say nothing before they die. At all, yeah. At all. They just say, like, nope, no thanks, hard pass. |
| 0:59.6 | So when someone speaks, it's usually of note, and it's usually one sentence. This was a lot more than that. |
| 1:05.6 | Yeah, of note. Last night's execution, execution robes was of note for a number of reasons. First of all, it was the first in the United States that we have had in 2026 after a year, |
| 1:16.7 | last year in which we saw an increase, a sharp increase in the executions in the country. |
| 1:21.3 | It's also notable robes, we say to folks, first execution of 2026. |
| 1:25.9 | I guess you would have the usual suspects of what state it was. |
| 1:30.3 | This one gets back to, I guess, the first one that's top of mind, even though last year, Florida let the way. |
| 1:35.3 | Yes, we're talking about Texas. And the first execution of 26, yes, was in Texas. And it was Charles |
| 1:42.6 | Victor Thompson. He was executed last night in Huntsville, Texas. |
| 1:47.4 | It took him 22 minutes, I believe, from when they began, but he was pronounced dead at 6.50 p.m. |
| 1:54.3 | Central time. And as we have alluded to, it was not uneventful. |
| 2:00.2 | It was not. These are always, and again, a few witnesses in there having to do with who are connected to the case families and whatnot. But also you have some journalists that are usually picked to be in there as well, and we are getting some of that commentary from them. Charles Victor Thompson, 55 years old, been on death row. Robs, another one of these cases, about 30 years that this family has been waiting for justice, |
| 2:20.0 | but convicted up a double murder back in 1999, killed a woman who was his ex-girlfriend, 39-year-old, Denise Hayslip, |
| 2:28.2 | and her new boyfriend, Darren Kane, who was 30 years old. |
| 2:31.6 | Now, Robes last night, it was, this is, this was well attended, |
... |
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