- At the time of writing there are 2,738 inmates
on death row in the United States.
This number could change quite frequently
given that some prisoners of course,
might be executed but others
might have their sentence commuted,
they might have their sentence overturned
or someone else might join them on death row.
Right now only 2% of people on death row are women,
42% of people are classified as white,
41% black, 13% Latino, 1.9% Asian, 1% Native American
and the rest is stated as unknown.
You can be on death row for a long, long time.
And believe it or not the average time spent there
from sentencing to the day in the execution chamber
is 20 years.
Let's now see what happens on that final day.
8 p.m., the inmate is taken from death row
to another cell.
This involves a drive from the prison
to what one former official in a documentary called
the death house.
That official said prior to leaving death row
and getting in the van to come to the death house,
the inmate will be searched really well.
He said this wasn't only because
a weapon might harm a guard but mainly because
they don't want the prisoner committing suicide.
Another guard interviewed said he once took a route
to the death house where they couldn't be ambushed.
Tensions are high during these events.
He also said the atmosphere in the van was solemn;
we all knew where we were going and why,
nobody said a whole lot.
Once the prisoner goes into the death house
he won't ever see the light of day again,
unless some kind of appeal works for him.
9 p.m., after booking in he can sleep
until he's awakened if indeed he can sleep.
We managed to find the diary of one prisoner
who described his move to his new cell;
they stripped me out with a female officer present,
he wrote.
Now personally, I'm not the shy type
but having a female officer on death watch
is just one more humiliation.
We're told that during this time
the prisoner is on something called death watch.
He's watched all the time in case he tries
to take his own life.
The cell is close to the execution chamber
and it is very private;
a space where the inmate can reflect on life
as the hours count down.
This might happen just one day before
but we found cases where it was a couple of days.
Prisoners will also be given special clothes in most cases,
much smarter than prison attire.
The man who kept the diary wrote,
he was happy to have at last, a pair of trousers
with a button and zip.
We don't know how well he slept but in his diary he comments
about watching the guards sleep.
This is what he wrote; good for them,
I'm sure this has to stressful for them,
so a moments relaxation is well earned.
I also enjoyed the irony,
who exactly is watching whom.
One other thing he says is that the death house
is much cleaner than his death row cell.
He remarks that there is not a bug in sight,
whereas in his last cell it was like going on safari.
4:30 a.m., the inmate is woken up bright and early
in his cell.
We should add here, times might change from place to place,
petitions might still be pending,
and there's a phone right outside the cell.
In the cell there's a shower, a toilet, a bed,
and a desk.
During this last day the prisoner is allowed to see family
and can be visited by a chaplain.
As for calling people, the inmate can write down
a list of phone numbers he intends to call
and give that to the guards.
One guard interviewed said, we would dial the number for him
and then allow him to make his call.
But after the prisoner has called
the last person on his list,
the only person he'll have to talk to is the chaplain.
We're told that after this last call,
it can be a very traumatic time.
One chaplain interviewed said, I was to do everything
and anything to help him face that last day,
whatever it was, writing letters, making phone calls,
singing songs, listening, listening, and listening.
8 a.m., we said they can have visitors
but 8 a.m. is the cut off time.
After that, the prisoner is on his own
besides having prison staff around and of course,
anyone involved in his case should something change.
The chaplain can still visit, too.
At around this time, in the actual death chamber,
it's very likely that the equipment will be tested.
This might mean checking that the straps on the gurney work
or even checking the phone
to the Governor's office is working.
Yep, imagine it wasn't and there was a last minute reprieve.
If the form of execution is the chair,
then it's electrical components have to be tested.
In one case we found, the actual Governor
was the person who they strapped in
to test if he could get out or move out of the straps.
I didn't want my staff to kicked in the face, he remarked.
10:30 a.m., now it's lunch time.
Yes, this is an early lunch but let's not forget
the inmate has been up a long time already.
Lunch is not special, it's not the last meal.
From what we could see, it's the same old prison food,
the only difference is that the prisoner gets to eat it
in a private setting.
The inmate we talked about before said what he got for lunch
was orange juice and what he called a prison issued donut.
For quite a few hours now, the prisoner has a lot of time
to think and as you know,
they have a desk and can write any number of letters,
goodbyes or just reflect on life.
3 p.m., if the inmate is to get the electric chair,
he'll have his head shaved around this time.
But this might also happen later in the day.
He might still talk to a spiritual advisor
but food might also be on his mind right now.
Around this time, maybe an hour or so later,
the inmate will also be asked to dress
in one of those smart clothes he's been given.
He'll be asked to take a shower before he does this,
a shower at least in total privacy.
He'll have already written down what he wants to eat
so in the kitchen the death house chef
will be doing all the preparations.
4 p.m., the inmate will receive his last meal.
Contrary to popular belief,
inmates can't just order what they want.
It makes sense because it's highly unlikely
that authorities would splash out on the finest wagyu beef.
In Florida for instance,
the maximum this last meal can cost is $40,
but this will change from state to state.
Those poor convicts over in Oklahoma only get a limit of $15
or at least when one documentary we watched was made.
That is hardly enough to go crazy on your last meal.
It's still good though, as one death house chef pointed out,
this meal is the only choice of food
they might have had in two decades.
In some states though,
prisoners no longer get a bespoke last meal
and only get the usual prison food.
To give you an idea of what inmates might choose,
we will list some last meals.
Serial killer John Wayne Gacy had 12 fried shrimp,
an entire bucket of KFC, some french fries,
and a whole load of strawberries.
The man behind the Oklahoma bombing, Timothy McVeigh,
just opted for two pints of mint chocolate chip ice cream.
A killer from Florida called Angel Nieves Diaz,
chose absolutely nothing.
The terrible Ted Bundy did pretty much the opposite,
ordering a steak cooked medium rare, eggs on the side,
over easy, some hashbrowns, slices of toast,
and some milk and juice.
The infamous female serial killer, Aillen Wuornos,
was good with just a cup of coffee.
While a murderer called Steven Woods,
must have been famished, we should add
that many thought he was innocent and his last words were,
"You're not about to witness an execution,
"you're about to witness a murder."
Before that, he asked to eat,
according to the website Ranker, two pounds of bacon,
a large four meat pizza, four fried chicken breasts,
two drinks each of Mountain Dew, Pepsi, Root Beer,
and sweet tea, two pints of ice cream,
five chicken fried steaks, two hamburgers with bacon, fries,
and a dozen garlic breadsticks with marinara on the side.
That state must have had a big budget.
5 p.m., the witnesses will likely arrive at the prison.
This might be family of the victims, journalists,
family of the condemned, friends of the condemned,
or whoever the condemned has asked to be witnesses.
They will be told to try and stay quiet
when they reach the witness room.
Before that, they'll wait somewhere else.
In most states, civilians who didn't know anyone involved
will be asked to witness the execution.
6 to 8 p.m., the time of execution can vary
from state to state.
But it's just about always in the early evening.
At this point, the prisoner will be taken
to the execution room.
The witnesses will soon be in the witness room.
Prisoners for the most part will just walk right there
and not give the guards any problems.
In some states, this will be a five man team,
just in case there is a struggle.
But that doesn't happen often.
One warden interviewed who had done 89 executions said
he'd only had one prisoner that was hard to deal with.
The walk to the chamber in most places
is only about 10 feet, just over three meters.
The guys would usually walk right up to the electric chair,
they weren't forced by the staff.
By that point, they've already accepted what will happen,
a former death watch guard told Business Insider,
another guard in a separate interview said the same,
inmates usually act very dignified.
It's a very clean procedure,
there's no hustling and bustling.
It's not always this way,
especially if the prisoner is protesting his innocence.
In 2018, the BBC reported that one man in Florida
was screaming and thrashing before he was executed;
screaming to everyone
that they were murdering an innocent man.
One warden said the first thing that catches his eye
is that gurney, which is the place he's gonna die,
if it is lethal injection, which it often is,
the prisoner's told to sit on the gurney and then lay down.
There will be a tie down team,
each responsible for a part of the prisoner's body.
Doctors will usually not be at the execution
because it's not in line with their code of ethics.
So there will be a special team to administer the drugs.
This is not always easy as the veins tend to hide
during the stressful time.
Some of them had burnt veins from drugs
which would make the process longer and more painful,
said one former warden.
When the catheters are in place
the inmate will be secured again.
There's about 15 minutes before the execution.
Believe it or not, some inmates have got a stay,
which means a call to stop the execution,
during these last minutes.
If that doesn't happen,
the witnesses are brought into the main room
and the curtains are undrawn.
Some inmates might make a final statement,
it depends on the state
but some prisoners might be given a few minutes
and others just allowed to make a brief statement.
Kentucky gives two minutes but in Pennsylvania
you can't talk at all and the statement can only be written.
Here are some fairly recent examples of last words:
I'm ready to roll.
Time to get this party started.
My last words will be, Hoka hey, it's a good day to die.
Somebody needs to kill my trial attorney.
I think that governor's phone is broke,
he hasn't called yet.
These are of course, unusual ones,
and most people will just say their goodbyes to loved ones
or give an apology for what they did.
At this point,
the chaplain might lay a hand on the prisoner,
sometimes where there's a pulse.
The warden will give the signal to the executioner
and then it's time.
The end of the day, the end of a life.
All we're gonna ask you is,
what do you think about this?
Do you think this is what criminals deserve?
Tell us in the comments.
Also be sure to check out our other video,
man so violent, even other prisoners fear him.
Thanks for watching, and as always,
please don't forget to like, share and subscribe.
See ya next time.