Death Row II

The death penalty still exists in 33 states in the U.S., although in recent years far fewer are actually implementing capital punishment. Legendary director Werner Herzog describes this follow-up to his 2012 series as "finishing an unfinished business". He speaks at length with four death row inmates in candid interviews about their crimes and life behind bars. Blaine Milam was the youngest death row inmate in Texas when he was convicted, after he and his girlfriend killed her 13-month-old daughter during an attempted exorcism. Robert Fratta hired two hit men to kill his wife because she wanted to divorce him; inmates and guards describe him as the most frightening person they have ever seen. Darlie Routier stabbed her two young sons to death, for she felt they had begun to interfere with her life of parties and beauty parlors. Douglas Feldman fatally shot and killed two truck drivers in the space of an hour, riding up beside the trucks on a motorcycle and firing into the cabs. Herzog opens all four episodes with a disclaimer of sorts making his own position clear: "As a German, coming from a different historical background and being a guest in the United States, I respectfully disagree with the practice of capital punishment."