Episode 72

Sword and Scale

Incongruity

True Crime, Society & Culture, Documentary, History

4 • 61.1K Ratings

🗓️ 1 August 2016

⏱️ 63 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A recurring question in the criminal justice system is whether the death penalty is moral, right or just. Everyone seems to have a fairly strong opinion regarding it, but almost no one has any any first-hand experience with the process. The idea that such a severe punishment to be conducted in secrecy, behind closed doors, may seem archaic and somewhat medieval. In this episode we talk to a man named Dr. Bill Kimberlin, who did something few others would. He actively attempted to attend an execution, and in fact has seen three of them conducted. He also has extensive knowledge of the death row system in the state of Ohio and describes the cushy life that the worst criminals in our society enjoy. We also revisit the Rodney Reed case and get an update on its state of limbo a full year after we first reported the story to you.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Sword and scale contains adult themes and violence.
0:03.0	It is not intended for all audiences.
0:05.0	Listen or discretion is advised.
0:07.0	That's when I discovered that no one had really ever been to death row and no one had ever
0:18.1	witnessed any executions. So. Welcome to season 3 episode 72 of Sword and Scale, a show that reveals that the worst monsters are real. Oh, This show has always been interested in not just the crimes committed, but the legal process by which they're punished.
1:14.8	In today's episode, we'll speak to Dr. Bill Kimberlin, Professor of Psychology at Lorraine County
1:20.4	Community College in Ohio, and author of the book, Watch Me Die.
1:25.0	He's here to talk about the executions he's personally witnessed,
1:28.0	and whether killing a killer is not in fact murder itself.
1:32.0	But before we get to that, we're going to check in for an update on the Rodney Reed case that we covered in episodes 42 and 43 last year.
1:40.0	It has been well over a year since Reed was scheduled to be executed, but he's still waiting for the slow gears of justice to act.
1:47.0	Will he be put to death for a murder he is most likely not responsible for?
1:51.0	And will your opinion of the death penalty be affected by this episode?
1:55.1	We're about to find out.
1:56.7	Stay tuned. In April of last year we told you the story of Rodney Reed, a Texas man who was convicted of killing Stacy Stites,
2:16.7	the wife of then Georgetown Police Department Sergeant Jimmy Finel Jr.
2:21.3	There's a lot of strange things about this case which simply don't add up and
2:25.1	Jimmy Fennel has since been convicted of kidnapping, assaulting, and raping a 20-year-old
2:30.3	woman he encountered while on duty.
2:33.5	There's a lot of evidence pointing to Finel as the actual killer.
2:37.2	So here with an update is Julie Strickland.
2:39.5	My name is Julie Strickland.
	...

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