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Premieres Sunday, March 18 at 8 p.m. ET on HLN TV

Death Row Stories explores cases that pose hard questions about the U.S. capital punishment system.

Show Description

Botched injections

Why experts say there's no such thing as 'humane' execution
Throughout the history of capital punishment in America, states have reviewed and revised execution methods in the interest of finding a more "humane" option.
Former executioner sees 'serial killer' in the mirror
'It was clear to me that he was in pain'
Execution takes two hours, 15 injections
Time to question sanity of death penalty

The Hunt with John Walsh
Death penalty fast facts
Lethal injection explained
The death penalty in America

Season 1

John Thompson

Helping break the 'jailhouse mentality'
When former death row inmate John Thompson left a Louisiana prison in 2003, he was one of the lucky ones.
See the evidence that saved his life

Edward Lee Elmore

'If I throw in the towel, a client dies'
Edward Lee Elmore would probably still be on death row if not for Diana Holt.
Saved by a legal intern

Timothy Hannis

Three trials, one crime
First, jurors ruled him guilty. Then he was declared innocent. Later, another court's verdict was guilty.
Surprising twists and turns

Kris Maharaj

Ex-millionaire: I was framed
A wealthy businessman claims he was framed for a double assassination that was allegedly ordered by Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.
Police photos and witness accounts

Gloria Killian

A prison friendship leads to freedom
Sometimes the act of one person can alter the entire course of someone else's life. For Joyce Ride, that act was befriending a prisoner named Gloria Killian.
The gun and the shocking letter

James Duckett

'Here I am, going to death row'
Never imprisoned before, Duckett describes what he felt during his first moments as a convicted killer on death row.
The killing of Teresa McAbee

Joe D'Ambrosio

Priest's unique skills lead to freedom
When priest Neil Kookoothe discovered a piece of evidence in the death row case against Joe D'Ambrosio, he said his "heart sank into the pit of his stomach."
"The poster child case for open discovery"

Nathan Dunlap

Killer's life hinged on an election
Because Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a "temporary reprieve" in 2013, Dunlap's 1996 death sentence still has not been carried out.
He 'deserves to face his maker'

Opinion

lethal injection death penalty explained mg orig_00001105.jpg

How the Supreme Court dodged the real issue of lethal injection

US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (R) speaks as he along with Justice Stephen Breyer testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee at a hearing entitled "Considering the Role of Judges Under the Constitution of the United States' at the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington on October 5, 2011.

SCOTUS's death penalty ruling and dissent

Sister Helen Prejean is a Roman Catholic nun and a leading advocate for the abolition of the death penalty.

'Dead Man Walking' nun