up next on a second look, inside california's death row. we talked to the men condemned to die. straight ahead on a second look. >> don't let them execute me. hello everyone i'm frank somerville and welcome to a second look. tonight the death penalty.

in november californians will be asked to do away with the death sentence and replace it with life without the chance of parol. one of the state's most controversial death penalty cases grabbed headlines around the world back in the 1950s. a parolee named carol chesman was convicted of robbery, kidnapping and rape and he was sentenced to die. during the 12 years he appealed his sentence, 94 condemned inmates including one woman were executed in california. over the years a number of well known people would ask the state to set aside carol chesman's execution. among them elenore roosevelt and billy graham. chesman himself wrote books and wrote congress. >> why did you grant this

interview? >> curiosity more than anything. >> you're curious on what we might say to you or want to see how we would react. >> in a sense, yes. >> how would you benefit from that? >> oh, i don't know. >> study of human nature maybe? >> not necessarily. i don't know. i was under the impression that the interview when i signed for it was limited to questions relative to the case. now i find myself confronted with an inquisition on my subjective reaction or reasons for granting an interview. >> the latest decision was unanimous against you. do you feel this is the end of the line for you. >> definitely not. i figure that's just a bit of newspaper east that i've encountered every time there's been an adverse decision in the case. >> what if you were to secure your release tomorrow, what would be the first thing you would do on the outside? do you have any idea? >> probably take a good long look at the sky when there wasn't any bars around.

>> have you made out a will? >> i've made out several wills. >> have you made out a recent one? >> no. >> in any of your wills have you named any beneficiaries. >> i think that's the reason for the will. as i understand wills. >> all right, have you ever thought about naming the two women that you've been accused of assaulting as beneficiaries. >> i have not. i'm satisfied that all the evidence that was available was presented and i'm also satisfied that once the case reaches the united states supreme court they will find that california hasn't acted in a way consistent with the supreme courts previous ruling. >> you are or would you hold any malice toward society? >> no, i don't think so. but this is even the traditional questions in which you make me anticipate a

situation that doesn't exist. and give answers that are purely academic and i can't do that and won't attempt to. with new degree of fairness, and spur of the moment. i haven't thought subjectly how i would feel. >> now at one point governor pat brown stayed carol chapman's execution. but the governor refused to do so a second time. with chestman set to die on may two, 1960 his attorney went to federal court to ask a judge for a stay of execution and as the clock ticked toward 10:00 a.m., the time for the pellets to draw. he issued a stay just one minute before 10:00. the problem is his secretary called san quentin to tell the warden but misdialed. when she finally got through,

the warden told her the execution has already started and the gas could not be stopped. and therefor chestman was dead. the law was rewritten, and death row not only regained its old name, it quickly grew in size as well. ktvu's kraig heaps first brought us this report in 2003. >> reporter: ronald reagan was governor and among the 30 men awaiting execution was the man who assassinated senator robert kennedy. >> reporter: those who are condemned are allowed four family visits a month. >> reporter: seerhan left death row along with every other

convicted prisoner. all of the sentences were changed to life in prison. by the time ktvu interviewed charles manson he was on what was once death row. a man now serving a life sentence. >> if i get bitter and mad, one thing the cell teaches you, if you get angry at somebody, you're only getting angry at yourself. >> reporter: but death row was not empty for long. california rewrote the law. and reinstated the death penalty by the end of the 1970s. with judges once again handing down death sentences, san quentin quickly ran out of room on the original death row. that's why there are now three condemned housing blocks at the prison. and both staff and the condemned say that this old death row is first choice among the condemned. why? -- >> it's cleaner and quieter and it's an inunit program. you don't have to be escorted all over the place.

you will see how the inmates are able to take themselves to the shower. how they're able to take themselves in and out of the the cells how they're able to take themselves up to the exercise yards. so you're not escorting them in handcuffs the only time that would happen when you're leaving the unit to go for a visit for example. >> most of these guys have been out there 18 to 20 years, have been there for a long time. >> reporter: on the roof once used to vent fumes from the gas chamber. the inmates can exercise, jump rope, punching bags and enjoy the view. any inmate here who breaks the rules or displays what staff considers bad attitude is swiftly removed to the much larger east block where the condemned are stacked five tiers high. inmates do not casually stroll the tiers. >> all the inmates that live in

the building are moved in what we call restraints, mechanical restraints and that makes up a big part of the day. >> reporter: but they do get exercise. >> we have some 520 death row inmates here inside of the east block. and there's probably only 300 that actually choose to come out to the exercise yard. >> reporter: it's been a half century since the state built cell blocks like these and decades since san quentin was home to the state's most dangerous prisoners. now the most dangerous go here to pelican bay. >> coming back 118. >> reporter: or here to corkrid. or here to the new prison next door to fulsome or here to the new prison next door to soledad. if they are starting to look familiar, it's because they are all built on the same plan. a plan san quentin officials

want to use for a new death row. called a 180 design it's been a big part of the state prison building plans for the last 20 years. years when the numbers of prisons and prisoners in the state grew by leaps and bounds and identities changed about hue to keep them confined. -- and ideas changed about how to keep them confined. to see the difference take a look at two members of the arian brotherhood prison gang. this one serving time in maximum security at pelican bay. and this one in the maximum security section of death row at san quentin. in the past few years, prison officials floated the idea of moving death row to the city of fulsome near sacramento. not to this prison the one johnny cash sang about, built by chain gangs from stone from

the quarry near by but here in the high security prison next door. a model of what san quentin hopes to build. in san quentin, death row inmates never visit a dining hall. in new folsom the men eat on tables bolted to the floor. but the idea did not get far. everyone agrees that dozensover men are added to death row and very few are executed. a condemned men arrives here with a death warrant issued by the sentencing judge. but an inmate can then file appeals. some appeals are automatic under state law. those appeals are what fill these boxes on the top tier of east block. the state does not schedule an execution until a prisoner's appeals run their course.

still to come on a second look, we talked to the correctional officers who work every day with the condemned inmates on california's death row. >> it's always on the back of my mind that there's something that is a little different and it's all processed in of what you and i might have. >> a sit down interview with the man that is now san quentin's oldest death row inmate.

tonight we're taking a second look at voters get ready to weh in on proposition 34. a proposition that would eliminate the death penalty. >> reporter: it's official name at san quentin is condemned row but it's known as death row where convicted killers wait to

be executed. 663 men live here isolated from the rest of the prison population partly for their own protection. when a death row inmate leaves the building to go to the infirmary for instance, he goes in handcuffs with a guard by his side. we wondered what life is like here for some of california's most infamous murders. how is scott peterson at that -- peterson is adapting to prison life. we talked to lieutenant sam robinson who spent eight years of his career as a guard on death row. he says most condemned men make no trouble. >> there are a couple of guys that they look right at the units and you say, you have a different that makes your skin crawl, yeah. >> reporter: this is scott

peterson as he appeared entering sam quintin 2-1/2 years ago. peterson not only gets love letters, he also gets money. strangers have mailed him thousands of dollars. >> with scott i would say that he's adjusted very, very well. he hasn't had any issues with any of the other inmate population that he's allowed to interact with. he stays to himself, he minds the rules here. he's become a programming inmate. >> reporter: peterson is not the only celebrity on the row. richard ramirez the night stalker gets requests for locks of his hair. ramirez is responsible for at least 16 horrifying murders. a rapists, slasher torturer. >> my first interaction with richard ramirez. i remember about 12 years ago now i was escorting him across the yard to a visit.

and just i was having light talk with him. he was looking out, looking in the sky. he says you know, i came here to california looking for a pot of gold, and what i actually found was a pot of iron. i wouldn't feel comfortable with him roaming the streets of my neighborhood. not at all. >> reporter: robinson is dealt on a daily basis with such certified monsters at charles ing who with his partner ling raped, tortured and murdered three women. richard allen davis who kidnapped, raped and killed poly class. this is davis as he looks now. and randy craft who kidnapped, molested and murdered as many as 77 young men, craft has his own website with a picture of his younger handsomer self. >> we laugh and joke with the guys, but it's always in the

back of my mind that there's something that's a little different in their thought process than what you or i may have. >> reporter: ramon salsito was 39 when he went on a sudden rampage killing two coworkers then his wife, her mother and two of his daughters. a third daughter survived despite having her throat cut. this is a recent picture of him. robinson says salsito has found god, repents his crimes and blames it all on drugs and alcohol. presumably all of these men are waiting to die but it could be a long way. in the meantime they have to figure out how to live. >> when we come back on a second look, the 1985 interview with a man who's now california's oldest inmate. he is known as the trail killer and he terrorized the area. >> forgive me, you know i didn't mean this. i didn't mean that.

and you god, you know my heart. you know i didn't mean, you know what happened. you know what happened to me. now don't let them execute me.

tonight on a second look we're examining california's death penalty. theoldest inmate is 80-year-old carpenter. he's been in death row since 1984. in 1985 elaine corral conducted a two hour long interview with david carpenter and here is part of the investigation. >> reporter: an armed guard brought him down from death row. we talked for almost two hours. >> i read that your attorney said, this is a quote, david carpenter is a man who is out of control, he is a mess, he is a personally damaged human being and not capable of weighing the consequences of a person to kill. are you a mess? are you out of control, are you a damaged human being?

>> no, but i used to be. >> what does that mean? >> i spent the years of 72, 73, 74, part of 75 in the therapy program down at vacaville. and i really got for the first time in my life, i got to know who i am, and i felt good about myself there. >> you told a psychiatrist that the way you deal with stress is to rape the nearest female. is that right? >> that's a long time ago. i said that probably when i was, maybe 30. and i'm 55 years old now. what you're talking about is something that's in report that's 25 -- you know something that i did 25 years ago. >> and that doesn't describe you now? >> no. >> david carpenter faces the

gas chamber for killing two women. >> can you point him out to us. >> right there in the brown sweater. >> hardel was shot in the throat and it affected his vocal cords. >> reporter: did he die on the witness stand. >> the most important thing he did was eyewitness testimony. >> but he saw you. >> he saw a person in the line up who felt, you know he felt this was the man that had killed them. >> this man should be executed i believe i tried the case based on that premise and i would do it again. >> i want to see these dirty --

in prison. i would like to see art dinner and jerry herman in prison for the rest of their lives for what they have done to me. >> when we come back in a second look. he was convicted of killing a man during a robbery. ron fuller talks about his life in death row. >> the irony is i attempted to take my life by suicide and the state of california saved me twice yet i'm here to be executed. they kept me alive to kill me in the death chamber.

in 1984 a condemned killer talked with ktvu news about life on death row. he was convicted of murdering a man while committing a robbery. >> reporter: one man says he feels executions have reached epidemic proportions. >> i firmly believe i'm going to be executed and it's

frightening to me. it's frightening to me. i see many men up there who are more freightened than myself. >> reporter: 35-year-old ronald fuller was convicted of murdering a cab driver in los angeles county in july of 1982. the cab driver was found in the trunk of his cab, shot once execution style in the left temple. but according to his attorney, ron fuller had been in and out of ten mental hospitals in his life and does not belong on death row. his case is on appeal. with executions being on the news, the nights have gotten a lot scarier. >> i listen to men talk in their sleep. i listen to men after executions pray. i can hear them pray to god. forgive me, forgive me. you know i didn't mean this, i didn't mean that. god you know my heart, you know what happened, you know what happened to me. now don't let them execute me. i wake up in the middle of the

night in cold sweat. >> reporter: fuller has tried twice to take his life. >> i slashed my wrist. five days after my arrival to death row i attempted suicide with a 125 pills. someone asked me what was the difference between putting you in the gas chamber and you taking your own life at that time. the difference is first degree premeditated homicide. the irony is, i attempted to take my life by suicide and the state of california kept me alive to kill me in the gas chamber. >> reporter: according to rob ryan, fuller will not be executed. >> regardless of whether or not rob committed the murder. during that period of his life he was in a state of mind which at the very least one would call insane. >> reporter: fuller says he is hopeful night but every night asks himself that question. >> why we want to kill people

isn't being locked up and removed from society, isn't that enough. >> reporter: fuller doesn't think so because he says there probably isn't a man in here who never really thought he would be caught in the first place. in 1989 five years after elaine conducted that interview, ron fuller committed suicide. he hung himself in his cell. since 1978 when california reinstated capital punishment, 57 condemned inmates have mates -- have died from natural causes. and only 14 have actually been executed. that's it for this week's second look. i'm frank somerville. we'll see you again next week.

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