I am a Killer (2018) s01e10 Episode Script

Joshua Nelson

Every man has his own mindset and own power to choose his own destiny.
And yes, I did ask for the chair, and the reason that I asked for the chair is because it's pretty much an instant death.
Many speculate that the reason I had asked for the chair was to prolong my execution.
Uh, and that's false.
l know that I'm guilty.
And what's the point in having capital punishment if it's not going to be used in a proper manner? And I walked up, I fired one shot.
And as I got closer, I fired one more shot.
She was shot through the cheek and it stopped in her jaw.
I drove him around behind a desk and I stabbed him approximately 25 times.
I couldn't believe it.
I just thought I can't believe I just killed somebody.
I don't feel bad about it.
I started stabbing him, stabbing the guy on the couch.
You don't lock human beings up in a cell.
They're not animals.
You just don't do it.
You can't expect that individual to be a human being after putting them in that cell forever.
It just don't work that way.
It makes a person even worse than what they were when they went in there.
I was born in Pueblo, Colorado, April 12th, 1973.
My father was an alcoholic.
He was always out drinking or out running around with his friends.
Uh He was very physically abusive towards all my stepmothers.
I remember one time very clearly.
Uh, he had beaten Shelly so bad that she looked like something that had stepped out of the ring with Mike Tyson.
Half of her hair was yanked out of her head, both her eyes were swollen shut, her nose was busted, her mouth was busted.
Had we have kept any guns in the house or whatever, which my father never did, I'd have killed my father and I should have done that a long time ago.
From that point forward, my run-ins with the law just escalated.
I started running away from home, started stealing checks from my dad, started stealing money from my dad, trying to get out of that, desperately trying to get out of that environment and then finally when I was, like, 15, 16 years old, I left his house.
I said I couldn't take it anymore, I'm at the age now I can leave your house.
My grandfather used to tell me all the time, "Son, you need to not hold things in your head because if you hold things in, it's going to build up and things are gonna explode and you're gonna wind up in trouble, serious trouble.
" And that's what winded up happening.
I started drinking more and became more agitated and more aggravated.
Uh, and Harvey Horne was my foreman.
He was also a middleman in crystal meth.
So I'd go over there and do meth every now and then.
I was over at his house one night.
Now, I went over there with a pistol, but I didn't intend on robbing him or doing anything to him.
I brought that gun over there for a trade-out for drugs.
When I showed up over there, we had both been up for about a week straight on crystal meth.
An argument ensued.
When he got up out of his chair, I knew right then and there that we're either going to have a hell of a fight on our hands, or I was going to have to kill him right away or at least hurt him and hell if I'm going to shoot him, why not kill him? And I was able to push him back off me and when I pushed him back off me I pulled the revolver up and I shot him point blank in the face.
I didn't know whether he was dead or not, so I said, "Well, I can't just leave a man half dying in his house" and I unloaded the gun five times in his face.
Did he deserve to die? Probably not.
But he's dead and I can't bring him back.
The state was seeking the death penalty, but due to I didn't have any severe prior histories, they dropped the death penalty and wound up sentencing me to life in prison without possibility of parole.
I got a high expectation for respect.
I give respect, I want the same thing back, no matter whether you're an inmate, no matter whether you're an officer.
It doesn't always go that way, especially with inmates.
At the time, I was selling tobacco, which we're not allowed to have, so it's like a black market.
Xavier Rodriguez.
I initially had thought he had stolen something from me.
He was young.
He had a slick mouth on him.
Uh, he called me "pussy-ass cracker".
I told him, "We're going to put like handcuffs on you, which was made out of sheets, and if you can get out of them I'll give you a pack of rip".
You know, and a pack of rip is like a hundred dollars in this place back then.
Um, so he agreed to do it.
I walked up behind him and I put him in a sleeper hold to make him pass out.
And I know that once you cut the blood circulation off to the brain, within minutes they're going to die because your brain is without blood oxygen.
About 15 seconds, uh, he had pissed all over himself.
I could see the urine on the floor.
And I stabbed him approximately 25 times within his abdominal area and upper area.
After he was killed, you know, I smoked a cigarette, took a shower afterwards and went down to the quarter deck and said "Hey, man, you got a dead body upstairs.
" It was very calculated.
To be in a maximum-security facility and to be able to accomplish that was was pretty good.
There's no questionable doubt about my guilt in this case.
I see no sense in trying to beat myself up mentally, uh, and sitting back and fabricating a fantasy that I'm not guilty, when I know I am.
I'm Mary Cole.
I'm Wayne Charles Doty's mom.
This is Randy.
He'd just recently got out of the army.
We dated for a while and I got pregnant and we had Wayne.
He weighed six pounds, 12 ounces, I believe.
And he was curly hair, blonde, blue eyes.
Looked just like his father, right there.
His father's blonde, blue eyes.
He liked his freedom, Randy did.
You know, he used to be the kind of husband that would go and don't come back.
One day, Randy and I had got in an argument.
And I went to the grocery store.
And when I came back, Wayne and Randy were gone.
I called the police.
I told them that my son was gone and the dad him, took the baby.
And they said, "Well, were you separated?" And I said, "No, we weren't.
" And they said, "Well, Randy has his, you know, the father has as much right to the child as you do.
" And I just thought maybe he would show up, sooner or later and he never did.
Never brought Wayne back, or didn't let me know anything.
Wayne told me that Randy had told him that I was dead.
He went into his grandmother's barn in Michigan and found pictures of myself, which he didn't know who that was, asked his grandma who that was.
And she told him, "That's your mother.
" The next time I seen him, he was a lot older, 20, 21 years old.
Wayne called and wanted to come to Denver and be with meet with his brothers and his sister.
And we flew him out here.
And he was here approximately three months, the most.
When he was here, he probably felt out of place.
Like, do I really belong here? Or don't I belong here? He got a job.
He bought himself a car.
He used to like to go camping, so he had friends and they would leave on Friday night and come back on Sunday.
We came home.
No Wayne's car outside, no nothing, so I thought, "Well, that kid is out again tonight".
The next day, nothing.
And his boss that he was working for, his employer, called and told me that, "He's gone, he left, he quit.
And he's gone back to Florida.
His father needed him there.
" I don't understand why he up and left the way he did.
Did Randy have that much power over him or? You know, or did Randy make him feel guilty, as to he needed to go back there? I didn't hear anything for a while, and then, Randy called me and said, "Mary?" And I said.
"Yes?" And I the voice, you know, that Floridian accent.
"Mary?" "Yes?" "This is Randy.
" "Well, no shit.
" "What do you want?" "Well, Wayne's really done it now.
" "What did he do?" "Well, he just shot some guy in the face five times.
" Wayne Doty killed my father, murdered him in cold blood.
Shot him in the face.
My father's name was Harvey Eugene Horne II.
My name's Harvey Eugene Horne III.
We spent many a Sunday morning fishing out on the water, spending just father and son time basically.
We, uh we had a lot of great days on the lake fishing.
Most of my earliest memories was going fishing and most of my earliest happy memories were fishing with my father.
Me and my father were very close, I was an only child, no brothers and no sisters, so I got all the attention.
All the love and caring and everything that I guess you could spread on one person.
He gave it to me all.
He had a great sense of humor.
All in fun, not vicious or anything, but just a great guy, just a fun guy to be around.
Right before my 21st birthday, I, uh, was at work and some officers came to my work.
Then they told me the bad news, the most horrible news I ever received in my whole entire life, that my father had been murdered, had been shot to death.
Of course, I mourned the loss of him, and in the meanwhile, I I did get myself in trouble and did a few things I probably shouldn't have never tried and a few things I shouldn't never have done.
It definitely had an effect on my life, not having someone proud of you.
And every son wants to make their father proud of them in one way, shape or form.
I really wish he was still here to be able to cast out a pole with me and enjoy the day, but, uh He's not, so every chance I get I try to get on the water and do the same thing.
I love you, Dad.
He said, "Momma, I'm sorry, but I, uh, hope I get the death penalty, I hope you can meet with my wishes.
" And I told him I did, that he was an adult, he could do make his own choices.
But I don't want him to die.
Not until God says, "Okay, Wayne.
It's time for you to come.
" But not of his own choice.
There is no questionable doubt about my guilt in this case.
Now, do I have remorse for the victim himself? No, I don't.
But I look at the victim's mother, and if I was the one that was murdered, I would want finality brought forth towards my mother if that was me in that situation.
It was good to hear his voice.
He says he deserves it, but I'm sorry.
But he He's saying he deserves to die for taking that life.
But when he did it, he did it to save himself, his business.
That kid tried to take Wayne's business.
It's hard to see how Wayne was able to do those things.
I try to put Sometimes I try and put myself in his position and I don't believe that that child ever seen real love in his lifetime except when he was tiny, tiny.
And I just believe that Wayne spent so many years in prison that he doesn't know anything else.
And what he's learned in prison, living in prison, is you either take care of yourself 'cause nobody else is gonna do it for you, but Is that the way Wayne wants to die, is somebody kill him? And then he'd feel better? Okay, now I can see Jesus? Nope.
He argued against the imposition of the death penalty but virtually everything he did and presented to that jury, would have in my mind, moved them towards a conclusion that death was the appropriate recommendation.
I've had a great deal of direct contact with him.
I don't usually get that, certainly not with murder defendants.
He's a very interesting character, he's a smart man.
He is also extraordinarily frightening, in that he will tell you with no emotion that he has killed before, that he might kill again, if he thought circumstances made it appropriate.
He is motivated by a moral code that is strong and unique to him even if it would be totally foreign and unacceptable to the rest of us.
But it is very much a part of his life.
Prior to a couple of years ago, it was perfectly permissible for a jury to recommend a sentence of death by a majority and for the judge then to make a final decision.
At the time of Doty's first trial, that's what happened, a verdict of ten to two recommended death.
The United States Supreme Court changed the rules on death penalties in the States, and in Florida in particular, a couple of years ago in a case called Hurst.
Subsequent to the Hurst decision, it must be unanimous.
The jury will be told that they are not concerned with whether or not he is guilty, that's already been decided.
Their sole decision is what the sentence should be.
Nothing has changed since the 2013 trial that would make me think any differently than I did then.
The only sentence that I think I can ethically and legally seek is death.
I could use any number of words to use to explain my feelings towards Wayne Doty, but at this point in time, I choose not to because it doesn't do any good.
Doesn't bring my father back, doesn't change Wayne's opinion.
He wants to make a mockery of our judicial system and decided that, you know, that he needs to build a fight for his right to be able to die.
Well he didn't want to do that when he killed my father.
After he killed my father, he did everything he could do to fight getting put in prison.
Personally, I think he's a murdering coward.
Wayne Doty's a murdering coward, that's exactly what he is.
And he's such a coward that he would rather allow the state of Florida to take his life rather than him taking his own life.
He wasn't worried about life or living until he decided he didn't like prison.
That's what he done, spent some time in prison, then Wayne changed his mind, decided that this wasn't so great.
"So, my only way out is to kill myself, but I'm a coward and I can't kill myself.
So I'm going to have somebody else to kill me.
" A lot of people's asked me, you know, "Would it give you closure if Wayne died in prison? Would it give you closure if he gets the electric chair? Would it give you closure to know that the man that killed your father is dead?" There's no such thing as closure.
I don't know where people come up with closure because if you close something, that means it's never open.
And that means you forgot about it, and I'll never forget about what a murdering coward did to my father.
So me and my thinking and my way of feeling is I'd love, absolutely love, to see Wayne Doty become the oldest living inmate to be still alive in Florida State Prison.
To live out his old days, when he's old and decrepit and he can't hardly walk, and he's suffering and there's no pain medication, and there's no nothing to ease the pain, no soft bed, no soft, you know, comfort.
I'd love to see Wayne suffer for the rest of his life in prison, to die a very old man in prison.
That's the best thing that could ever happen to Wayne Doty.
Wayne is a good guy.
Wayne is a great He's a great person.
Very understanding human being.
He's very intelligent.
He's got a good heart.
He's got a heart that's gold.
A lot of people would love to have a heart like him.
My dad left me before I was born, and then he ended up overdosing off of heroin.
You know, my mom wasn't really there for me.
The first time I went to prison was in 2003.
After about me doing, I'd say, five years in prison, that's when I met Wayne through a friend of mine that was a good He was a good dude and he said that Wayne was a, um, good person to talk to on a business level.
And once we started doing business with each other on, with, like, making money with, like, chewing tobacco or whatever, we started building a friendship and it started building into, uh, I'd say, a relationship like a father and son.
And that's why I call him Dad, because he's like a father to me.
I ain't never had a dad growing up, so For someone like that The advice that he's given me has been like what a father would give a son, so it means a lot to me.
We write each other, like, twice a week.
He keeps me sane.
He keeps me in line.
Y'all want a letter from Wayne? Here, come on, let's go in here.
These These are all letters from Wayne right here.
"Monday, January 18th, 2016.
" "Hello, son.
Where do I begin? First and foremost, know that Dad loves you and my love is unconditional, son.
I think about you more than you probably do me, but that's fine.
" "Do you want to be back in prison?" Definitely not.
"That's where you are headed, son.
Do you want to lose your license? One more DUI and you'll be a habitual offender.
Prison time, no license.
Forget all that.
You damn near died.
I love you and I know damned well you can do better than that, Brett.
" Look at all the letters.
I mean, that's corresponding.
- Too much to count.
- I mean there might be I might have a letter from every day, it seems like.
He's got my back and I got his back, and that's just When you got somebody It's better to have one solid friend than 30 fake friends.
And when you can really express to somebody, you can trust somebody, and you know they're not gonna turn on you, it's priceless.
Wayne killed Rodriguez over the tobacco.
Wayne was given a big bomb of tobacco, okay, to put on the confinement cart to bring to somebody else.
Rodriguez stole the tobacco.
That's a lot of money, you know.
Something's got to happen.
Wayne was put in the situation to where it was either his life or Rodriguez.
It wasn't like he just walked by and shot him or something for no reason.
There's was a motive.
There was a reason behind of what he did.
But he was also forced to do it in a way.
If he would have had a father and a mother that was supportive of him and were there for him growing up, he wouldn't be in the situation that he is in now.
If they execute him, you know, it would be devastating to me.
Because he's like a father figure to me.
You know, he's always giving me great advice.
I have a different outlook on life now.
Um He has been a major impact on my life, definitely.
I said, "If you don't fight this, you know, you're leaving people behind that love you.
" Love is unconditional.
When you love someone, you love them no matter what.
No matter what choices they have made, no matter what they have done.
When you love somebody, you love somebody, that's what it is.
And I love him, he's like a dad to me.
He's my best friend.
As a standby attorney, I have to be prepared at any moment to step into this case.
Wayne, at any time, he could turn to me and say, "Hey, Copek, I want you to do this.
" I think the chances with Wayne are slim, but I have to be prepared for that.
Because, again, at every critical stage, the judge has to again remind him, "You have a right to a counsel in this, do you want to have counsel?" It's definitely fair to say that Wayne, from the get-go, as soon as he was sentenced to death, was like, "All right, what do I need to do to expedite my death sentence?" I would say that I know Wayne very well.
Um, Wayne is a hard nut to crack.
But I like to think he's come to trust me, not just as his lawyer but as a friend.
Wayne is obviously not educated, but is he smart? Definitely.
Definitely, a keen intellect.
Um and a curiosity.
I mean, there is this notion that these guys that are on Death Row are monsters and they're horrible, and they, you know, there's no question about it, they've done horrible things.
But that's it doesn't define who they are, they are not just that.
I wouldn't want to be defined by my worst, the worst thing that I ever did in my life.
Wayne has already been found guilty of first-degree murder.
So the hearing that's coming up, it's strictly just, is he gonna get life or is he gonna get death? Capital trials are nerve-racking.
Really, all trials, once somebody's liberty is being faced are nerve-racking.
But capital trials, when you're talking life and death, it's intense.
Wayne is an honest, sometimes brutally honest to a point, person.
And even if what Wayne is doing is just putting it forth before the jury and making it, making it their decision and he's not gonna advocate for a certain position, I still hope to God that he shows this jury the goodness that's in him.
And, of course, my hope is that they see the value in his life and that they and that they spare his life.
Wayne Doty's a murdering coward.
That's exactly what he is.
And he's such a coward that he would rather allow the state of Florida to take his life rather than him taking his own life.
I'd love to see Wayne suffer for the rest of his life in prison, to die a very old man in prison.
That's the best thing that could ever happen to Wayne Doty.
I'm sorry he feels that way, him not knowing me as an individual.
If he feels that I need to spend the rest of my life in prison, then so be it.
His father wasn't a crystal-clear individual.
Uh, did he deserve to die? Probably not, but he's dead and I can't bring him back.
You know, I'm sorry, I don't have to the power to do that.
Wayne killed Rodriguez over the tobacco.
It wasn't like he just walked by and shot him or something for no reason.
There's was a motive.
There was a reason behind of what he did.
But he was also forced to do it in a way.
Wayne was put in a situation to where it was either his life or Rodriguez.
I can't positively say that Rodriguez was the actual one that stole that tobacco from me.
I don't know whether he did it or not.
There was no evidence.
And I didn't see him with my own eyes take anything from me off the cart that it was supposed to be taken off of.
And after sitting back and really thinking it over, who in their right mind would allow their hands to be tied up when they've actually wronged somebody in that direction? We had words before, you know, months prior, to where it was It started over a simple newspaper.
And he, by way of disrespect, called me a pussy-ass cracker.
And in in prison or anywhere, you know, for somebody to call me that, that's very disrespectful, that doesn't sit with me very well.
Why? Because I don't call people that.
And I have a high tolerance for respect.
If I give respect, I want respect to be given back no matter who you are or what position you're in.
You know, I mean, that's just human nature.
But, hey, he's gone now and I can't bring him back, man.
And in your value system, disrespect on that level, calling someone a pussy-ass cracker is grounds for murder? It can be, because if others hear somebody call you that, and they see that you let it get by, then you open yourself up and you become prey.
It can open up a big door that I'd just as soon not have opened up.
I'll shut it as quick as it opened up.
I'm 44 years old, fixing to be 45 years old.
I'm older, I'm not a young jitterbug like these young jitterbugs are these days.
I can't stand and go ten to 15 minutes, you know, with a young jitterbug.
It feels like he wants to get his hands dirty, you know, the only way to put one of them out of their misery is take them out of their misery right away.
I know it sounds cold, but it is what it is, man.
Does anybody ever have to kill anybody? No, they don't.
You know, he definitely wasn't a threat to me, you know, uh He didn't have to die, no, he didn't.
But he did and I can't bring him back.
At the time, it felt like it was the right thing to do with that individual.
I'm a violent individual and that's just the way I am.
You know, that's what's been embedded in me since I was a kid.
You know, and I'm just who I am.
I am guilty for killing another individual.
I've accepted that responsibility.
I've stepped up to the plate as a human being and accepted that.
That's a big responsibility, that's a big chunk to accept.
You know, I put myself in this position and now I'm wearing it.
If it was up to me, and you know, I'd go straight from the court house to the death chamber.
I could finish this conversation talking to you people right now and walk straight to the execution chamber and get it over with.
And look the family, the victim's family in the face and tell them, "Look, I'm sorry.
I can't bring your loved one back, but if this is going to bring you closure, then so be it.
Let's move on.
You can move on with your life and I'll be resting in a better place.
" I've done something wrong uh, and I've got to pay the consequences for my actions.
I'm a murderer.
Normally, in this situation and circumstance, an attorney would normally stand here before you and beg for you to sentence their defendant, their client, to life in prison.
And I had a long discussion with my people yesterday.
And it's whatever justice you seem necessary, make sure your decision is based off the evidence and not a personal decision and based off the law.
That's all I have to say.
Thank you.
Members of the jury, you will now please depart to begin deliberating.
Members of the jury, I understand you have reached a verdict.
Please pass the verdict for me, bailiff.
"We, the jury, unanimously find that defendant Wayne C Doty should should be sentenced to death, yes.
" I wanna be remembered as who I am.
You know? Not somebody phony.
Or not somebody that's trying to be something they're not.
I mean, what's the point in having capital punishment if it's not gonna be used in a proper manner? I mean, how many lives is it gonna take or or for people to understand that whatever it is that's going on inside of my head has been implanted there ever since I was a kid? And this is who I am and I'm happy to be who I am and I'm gonna always be who I am.
Not too many can say that, you know.
They'd rather run for the rest of their lives and try to avoid reality and I'm not I want to face it face on and be dealing with it.

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