which looks at life after the death penalty in the united states. the south of the united states of america oklahoma. this road leads to macalister penitentiary which houses prisoners condemned to death.

this is where just twelve years ago i met sean sellers a young man condemned to death his story created a media star all over the world he was my age and i have never forgotten him ever since the night of his execution i have been convinced that the death penalty acts like a poison on all those who participate in it now my aim is to meet the people of born volved in the execution of sean sellers. this is where sean sellers spent the last thirteen years of his life.

cameras and three. thousand three. hundred dollars or a little we've. seen here. sean was to. the nine when this interview took place. most people around here are you know all the season debut in all the season chains wars crime. sold. if all you can see is this summer's herzog. did someone is killed somebody.

that someone is dangerous did you with the person did the person deserves to die. i don't blame the. he said this is what. the only people who really really. have. to want to see me did the people i've heard believe her story is one i didn't know i was sixteen years old those people have a right to hate me those legal have a right to be angry with me those legal have a right what we did if i ever heard you say why do you want a good dad. when

he was sixteen shawn murdered his mother vonda and his stepfather leave. their birds here in eastern oklahoma. i found some archive footage on this tragedy at a local t.v. station. one night while volunteer and lee were sleeping in their home shawn shot them with his stepfather scum. he has always claimed that he committed this crime while under the power of an uncontrollable force.

when the teenager was arrested he admitted the double murder and confessed to another crime. six months before he walked into a convenience store with an accomplice and shot dead a cashier. he was only fifteen at the time. his accomplice in the convenience store shooting was also arrested richard was shawn's friend and both boys were obsessed with satanism. the two teenagers would tell the police that they killed the grocer just to see what it would feel like. richard accepted to testify against shown in exchange for a lighter sentence. when mrs evidence

even shown sellars own confession everything was in place for a trial but the legal system was hesitant should this teenager be judged as an adult fully conscious of his acts. seans court appointed lawyer presented as evidence psychological evaluations that diagnosed severe personality disorders in the defendant. but the prosecutor was adamant in demanding the death sentence. i think it's right tragedy states a sixteen yo when he commits a crime to be put. in

one thousand nine hundred seven sean sellers was sentenced to death and first became the youngest person condemned to death in the united states in the past fifty years. over the thirteen years following his sentencing sean grew up an adult in the macalister penitentiary in these half buried buildings the cells which are underground have no natural light. as the years pass shaun's lawyers try in vain to get a retrial. psychiatrist claim to have brought to light psychological disorders that were on no one at the time of the trial shown now an adult writes books attacking

the cultures of. thousands of letters and maintains correspondence with hundreds of teenagers. when i met him thirteen years after his condemnation he had exhausted all legal recourse. to whatever it is here it. came. to the street to believe you know what is or is you know. three days after meeting sean i sit in on the clemency hearing that takes place in

this small chapel near the penitentiary. is shown as a last chance to have his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment. but. steve presson shows new lawyer is working day and night to prevent the execution. the five members of the jury selected by the state governor are to offer recommendations as to whether or not sean sellers should be pardoned. in the end the governor makes the decision on his own. activist seconds to death penalty and friends of shown our president to ask but his life be spared.

to me this day. signifies whether man. will grant mercy or deny mercy and after knowing sean. first long as i have for ten years. in all of my being he is one should be granted mercy and if he is denied mercy i feel it is justice. i fear for our state yes decide that it's ok to murder a sixteen year old boy killed a person. or something for a crime they've committed if i i fear fear for what scope we are not the wild wild west it's time to realize. better ways to. experience it is. knowing the rest of the world based.

on solid sellers attorney as i carry a burden no man should ever have to shoulder that it. is early human life. as you know sean was sixteen years old when he committed these murders that's not to say that sean sellers should not be punished for his crimes sean is being punished no rational person can deny that each day for the last thirteen years john and slept on a concrete slab just inches from a metal toilet in a windowless room smaller than most of our own closets there he spends twenty three hours a day often twenty four and if he's not executed held will spend the rest of his life in just such an existence is it better than what i gave his victims many say not but no one can credibly argue that imprisonment is not punishment sean has been punished is being punished and will be punished. and i ask

you about clemency if not now when. not showing sellers who on sellers lose on a dark. desolate death row very dark on that row dining and all. please don't extinguishment on. you. during the hearings the families of the victims get to say their pace. but the parents and children of lee belafonte sean stepfather are here to demand that the execution be carried out.

among them on lorna no well at least son and daughter. i'm here to die. just become my father for almost thirteen years my family has remained silent allowing me just those phones and our courts. and now after all of those times we are shocked to find ourselves in your presence clinging to you throughout the deaths. of song sellers to go forward and executed. the execution of sellers will not bring my father back or my stepmother. it can never fill the void in my life. but sellars must be executed for the brutal

crime he committed this is a punishment this is not nothing. the convention is allowed fifteen minutes to played his case. card to ward you know. that.

i'm something of one you heard today because i know that you. have heard. another. can imagine. what i say today. because you do have been immersed know me well so have. no i didn't come here to ask for justice. came here today for mercy. i don't think you will live with it if. i'm not. so

allusion to the one thing that make up the people's lives. have to try in time and i have to keep on from one. in this type of hearing the jury does not retired to deliberate the verdict is announced directly. this time. i will call on each member of the board alphabetically. brackenridge now. i'll step mother at this time this math. ronald worth will know and my

thought is now. this time the clemency hearing for sean sellers is adjourned. sean is dead. for the state of oklahoma the case is being closed for a long time. but for all those who witnessed his execution life is going to. now twelve years later i'm going to meet was one of the witnesses of the execution in this nature reserve in the eastern part of the state.

at the clemency hearing. some of. be executed lauren is a true man of the south. he has always been in favor of capital punishment i didn't decide the punishment you got to remember that twelve other people decided that was his punishment that was a fitting punishment for the crime he committed because i happen to agree with it. is there's a side subject that's that's. that's good for me. it's. lawrence sister lives in the town of lawton in the

center of oklahoma. she also waited thirteen years impatiently for shown to be executed. oklahoma the families of victims have the right to view the execution. and her family came to the penitentiary to watch being put to death. he was strapped down to a table with his arms out to his side and they had run an i.v.

which was have a we're going to. commit the execution and it was lethal injections through. it was altered intravenously he was prepped and ready to gal lying down and the warden was in there and some doctor and. a few prison guards i believe there was no fear he was happy to go. it seemed like and that to me it was totally conceivable he didn't like afraid perhaps he'd come to terms with his fate he gets a list of everyone who's there to ending his execution both for his guests in the prison the guests and his family members

and the victim's family members it's a it's the only opportunity you're going to have to go see i got you here didn't get away with it now or even i'd reached a point where i guess i'd be humanized him and i had to for my own peace of mind i had to look at him for what it was a killer. i don't think i could have ever gone through. it was painless for him he didn't suffer he was put to sleep like an animal like euthanize

a dog or cat but it was actually probably far more humane. noel than lower and realized that the execution would also claim other victims sean's family. shawn's biological father who had abandoned him when he was two heard about his son's coming execution. he sent him a video message from california. there

take a good look for sure for. certain midterm this is kind of thirteenth day of. i just can't get back there if you. don't think i could almost have the. honor of. stable enough to do this. lucky i'm talking to you or this this or to communicate with me i can't i can't stand. a lot of you who wish things were different. could buy.

the execution was a terrible ordeal for sean's grandfather jim vandas father. jim often took care of the little boy when his mother was out on the road. i met jim twelve years ago when i came here the first time it was a few days before the execution. jim had already lost his daughter vonda and now the state was about to put his only grandson to death. he still. he still was great so. i would love to say it's. a world where the other one may put him. but i know better.

it's going to go to good. put a show there's not going to bring that man sir i will bring. back. you know what was your reaction when i was just. i just really so we'll. have cruel can you be really. has so room so to claim a woman. i hated that janet's effort. because i live chan. and was i was good to me. as a child i really liked him. and i hated that he i mean he was so. broken and a committee hearing i couldn't bear to look at. sean's

grandfather died shortly after the execution. hungry for the full story we've got it first the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers.

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here on aug and we hear that now there are more clashes happening in tripoli as the rebels have arrived in the center of the town legibly pushing out kadafi loyalists more details to come about breaking news here on out c. journalists in tripoli report gunfire near the hotel saying reports of overnight looting of houses in the capital has left them feeling unsafe. opposition supporters rejoice hoping the forty year old regime is nearing a dead end but skeptics point to the disillusionment that has followed the fold of egypt's dictator. and the international reaction ranges from euphoria to outright caution and concern over the likelihood of an unstable rebel government torn apart by competing interests.