Witness to an Execution

The radio documentary tells the stories of the men and women who participate in, carry out, and witness multiple executions as part of their jobs at the Walls Unit in Huntsville, Texas. Narrated by Warden Jim Willett, who oversees all Texas executions, “Witness to an Execution” documents, in minute-...

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Bibliographic Details
Institution:Open Society Archives at Central European University
Language:English
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10891/osa:451fa8bd-e80b-405e-b3ae-f04c63b530df
Description
Summary:The radio documentary tells the stories of the men and women who participate in, carry out, and witness multiple executions as part of their jobs at the Walls Unit in Huntsville, Texas. Narrated by Warden Jim Willett, who oversees all Texas executions, “Witness to an Execution” documents, in minute-by-minute detail, the process of carrying out an execution by lethal injection. Major Kenneth Dean, a member of the "tie-down" team, describes the act of walking an inmate from his cell to the death chamber. Jim Brazzil, a death house chaplain who has witnessed 114 executions, remembers inmates' last words to him. Former corrections officer Fred Allen discusses his own mental breakdown, caused, he says, by participating in one too many executions.