Geraldo Rivera - Murder: Live From Death Row
If I had a special talent at 11-years-old, if there was one thing that I truly excelled at, it was doing an impression of Charles Manson. The crazy eyes, the waving of the arms and groovy dancing, the gravelly southern/hippy voice; I had it down pat. I would break into character as Charlie often and randomly, to the delight of my older brothers and chagrin of my mother. All of these mannerisms I first learned from repeated viewings of the primetime Geraldo Rivera special, “Murder: Live from Death Row.”
This television event aired sometime in April or May of 1988 and instantly became the most entertaining and fascinating thing that I had ever seen up to that point. I say repeated viewings because my mother had taped the show and I spent the next 10 years wearing out the heads on that VHS tape. It was simultaneously funny and terrifying and endlessly quotable. There were many nights in bed when waves of panic would sweep over my young mind and body after an especially creepy snippet of the show would suddenly flash inside my brain. It was a two hour long montage of murder and mayhem, with several segments bookmarked by Rivera’s exclusive interview with Charles Manson in San Quentin Prison. It was sensationalistic, hyperbolic, and exploitative, as all great television should be.
What follows is a retrospective review, complete with a “Where Are They Now” for each segment.
Segment 1: Carnage & Soundbites
We begin with news footage. The gruesome kind. The type that was then easily available if you rented or owned videos such as “Faces of Death” or “The Inhumanities” and now one would need a subscription to Documenting Reality to view. Back in the good old 1980’s, it was fit for prime time. Dead bodies in the street, corpses being hauled out of rivers, hysterical grieving families, all unfolding to Geraldo’s haunting narration that we are severely fucked. Hey, you ignorant, suburban bitches! Don’t you know how much danger you are in!? Get your goddamn head out of the sand! Your dumb, unsuspecting ass will probably be murdered as you watch this! The opening is nothing short of excellent.
We get clips of the upcoming Manson interview, which both Manson and Rivera conduct using nothing but soundbites. Charlie’s brow is decorated with a tattooed swastika, while Geraldo’s is permanently furrowed, in case you had any doubt of his disgust with this appalling, yet entertaining little man.
We see surveillance footage- the shit, grainy 1980’s kind- of a liquor store robbery gone wrong. Seventeen-year-old Matt McKay is coldly shot and killed before our eyes by Andre Lewis. News and trial footage play about the senseless thrill killing of Shaun Ouillette by teenaged classmate Rod Matthews. The ginger-headed, bespectacled Matthews just wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone. Cut to news clips of another liquor store murder in Tampa, where clerk, Rita Waldron, is murdered by a creep named Miguel Segarra. We see her son, sitting in a squad car, being told that his mother had just been murdered. Geraldo and us viewers are sickened by this.
On to more carnage, this time on the mean streets of Los Angeles and New York City. Both of which are presented as warzones. We see clips of gangbangers, both living and dead, and learn about the evils of drugs. Geraldo interviews a young incarcerated Crips gang member whose identity is never revealed. He killed his mother’s boyfriend, among other people, and smiles about it.
The 1988 murder of New York City police officer Edward Byrne is discussed. Clips of his funeral are shown and his father is very briefly interviewed. Come to think of it, every interview on this show, with the exception of Manson, is rushed through, with Geraldo firing off rapid fire questions then not giving the subjects ample time to answer.
Still in the studio, we cut to NYC Mayor, Ed Koch. He is angry as fuck about all this damn crime. It’s more than a tad bit funny watching a New York Liberal Democrat argue in favor of both the death penalty and sanctions against Mexico. Koch also makes reference to the murder of Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, immortalized years later in the series “Narcos: Mexico.”
The first segment wraps with a trip to Alabama’s death row and we are briefly introduced to three condemned inmates from various states, Tommy Arthur, Judith Ann Neelley, and Richard Drake. More on them later.
Where Are They Now?
-Andre Lewis was convicted of the 1985 murder of Matt McKay and sentenced to death in Texas in 1987. After coming within eight hours of his scheduled execution in 1993, his death sentence was vacated and he was re-sentenced to life. He is no longer listed as within the custody of The Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice and his fate is unknown.
-Rod Matthews was sentenced to life in prison at the age of 14 for the murder of Shaun Ouillette, also 14. He was paroled in 2024, after serving 36 years.
-Miguel Segarra remains in prison in Florida, serving life without parole for the murder of Rita Waldron. He was sentenced in 1996 to an additional five years for an escape attempt when he was caught attempting to saw through the bars of his cell.
-While never named on the show, Howard “Pappy” Mason was convicted for ordering the assassination of Officer Ed Byrne while already behind bars for a weapons charge. He was sentenced to life in federal prison and served his first several years at the notoriously harsh ADX Florence.
Segment 2: Charlie
A downright spectacular montage of the Manson Family crime spree is shown. News footage, crime scene photos, documentary clips, and Geraldo’s voiceover are all set to the most ominous music this side of a John Carpenter soundtrack. We are introduced to the main characters of Manson, Charles “Tex” Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme. Oddly left out was Leslie Van Houten. If you are reading this, I can only assume that you are already familiar with the details of the Tate-LaBianca murders.
Charles Manson is led into the prison visiting room, shackled and barking orders at his keepers, and the interview begins. I have seen an unedited version of this interview and it proves my theory that it was nothing more than Geraldo goading Manson into making villainous statements and Charlie happily complying. They both are hip to what was going on and what makes for entertaining television. No written synopsis of this interview can do it justice and I highly recommend watching it, if you haven’t already.
Manson can be either frightening or frighteningly charismatic, depending on the viewer. He is both rambling and coherent. Every phrase he utters could easily be sloganeered onto a T-shirt, bumper sticker, or meme. In his unique way, he breaks down the issue of crime by blaming society, shitty child rearing, and the prison industrial complex, all of which seems to fly right over Mr. Rivera’s head.
Back at the studio, there is a quick exchange with former Los Angeles County District Attorney and Manson prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi. He confirms his belief that Manson is totally sane and simply hamming it up for the cameras.
Where Are They Now?
All of the Manson Family killers were sentenced to death in 1971, with all sentences being commuted to life-with-parole one year later.
-Charles “Tex” Watson found God in prison and Jesus has totally forgiven him for all of his past transgressions. The two are now cellmates and play handball together on the yard. He authored an autobiography and fathered four children from behind bars. He has been denied parole 18 times and remains incarcerated at R. J. Donovan Correctional Facility in Southern California.
-Susan Atkins also found God in prison, but he couldn’t save her from dying of brain cancer in a prison hospital in 2009.
-Patricia Krenwinkel remains incarcerated, having her 2022 parole reversed by California Governor/living mannequin Gavin Newsom. She is the longest serving female prisoner in California. She also remains the least sexy of all the Manson Girls.
-Leslie Van Houten was the most successful in severing herself from the stink of The Family. She successfully appealed and was granted a new trial in 1977. Once again, she was convicted and sentenced to life. She was paroled in 2023 and remains free. Her friends and supporters included filmmaking genius John Waters.
-Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, while never implicated in any of the murders, was shipped up the river after attempting to assassinate President Gerald Ford in 1975 in Sacramento. She was paroled in 2009 and reportedly still devoted to Manson. She is said by neighbors to be very friendly and personable.
Segment 3: Crimes of Passion
Geraldo reminds us that the bedroom can be the most dangerous place, in a line straight from the Lifetime Movie Network. We kick off with the story of the murder of Jennifer Levin by Robert Chambers in New York City’s Central Park. Dubbed by the press as “The Preppy Murderer,” Chambers looks as douchey as one would suspect. In interrogation footage he blames her and rough sex. Mainly her tying him up and “squeezing his balls.” He wasn’t going to take that.
The ever insightful Geraldo reminds us viewers that murder isn’t just for the poor, as we cut to the Sunnyvale massacre perpetrated by Richard Wayne Farley. This slow, train wreck of a horror story is glossed over with Rivera’s simple explanation that a woman had “rejected his advances.”
The story of Ronald Gene Simmons’ slaughter of his entire family is told in less time than would fill a Youtube short, proving that our attention spans went to shit a good 40 years ago. More disturbing news footage is shown and a witness to this spree is interviewed for an intense five seconds.
We cut to Abderdeen, NJ for a profoundly upsetting story about a teenage murder/suicide. I remember this particular case really jabbing me in my 11-year-old guts.
Caged heat time, as we head into a women’s prison in North Carolina. Here we meet three shockingly well dressed and coiffed ladies, all doing time for murder. Apparently the NC penal system doesn’t want to infringe on a convict’s right to style. Engress Harris is a young woman serving time for killing her ex-husband over a custody dispute. She was upset at the way things turned out, you see? The title graphic under her name reads, “Passion Killer.”
Anne Henson looks like your square aunt whom you make sure never to cuss in front of and was there for hiring a hitman to kill her abusive husband, which she gives a detailed account of. Her graphic reads, “Had Husband Killed.” Apparently, she lacked passion.
Last is Rochelle Daniels, who killed her newborn baby by throwing her in a bag and leaving her in the woods. She is the only woman who expresses remorse and becomes tearful, just before Geraldo informs us that she has confessed to killing and burying a second baby.
Then it’s back to the studio and Alabama’s death row. Again we meet Tommy Arthur. He is waiting for his date with Alabama’s electric chair, “Yellow Mama,” and has an accent as thick as whiskey soaked cotton. He was on death row for a contract murder committed while he was out on a prison work release for killing his sister-in-law. The latter he fully cops to, blaming alcoholism. The contract hit he claims to have no knowledge of. His ex-wife and a woman he shot and wounded are interviewed and neither has anything nice to say about him. Geraldo tells Tommy that his estranged son is watching this program and has just been informed that he is his father. This was years before Maury was doing this bit.
Where Are They Now?
-Robert Chambers was convicted of manslaughter and served 15 years for the killing of Levin. After his release in 2003, he fully embraced life as a loser and was busted for drugs in 2005 and 2007. He was given more time for these offenses than for the murder and was released on parole in 2023.
-Richard Wayne Farley was sentenced to death in 1992 for the mass shooting of his former workplace. He was played by John-Boy from The Waltons in a made-for-television movie opposite Brooke Shields. Due to California’s current memorandum on the death penalty, it is highly unlikely that he will ever be executed.
-Ronald Gene Simmons was sentenced to death for the mass killing of 16 people, 14 of which were members of his allegedly inbred immediate family. He was executed by the State of Arkansas in 1990 after less than three years on death row. Governor Bill Clinton signed his death warrant.
-Engress Harris was sentenced to life for the murder of her husband and had a criminal record dating back to at least 1981. She was paroled in 2007, then violated and returned to prison in 2012, where she remains today.
-Anne Henson’s whereabouts are unknown. I was unable to find anything about her or her crime. This leads me to believe her name on the show may have been either misspelled or a pseudonym.
-Rochelle Daniels was given a 30-year sentence for murdering her child and was released from prison sometime in the 2000’s. No word on if she ever had any more kids.
-Tommy Arthur was executed by lethal injection on May 26, 2017 after seven previous stays of execution. There was a somewhat active online movement promoting his innocence prior to his death, much as there is for other obviously innocent individuals like Scott Peterson.
Segment 4: Experts and Sex Murderers
In-studio we get an interview with noted attorney F. Lee Bailey. This guy is fucking dull and has nothing interesting to say. Next up is Jack Levin, a supposed “murder specialist.” I’m not too sure about his murder credentials, but he sure looks the part of a specialist. He quickly delves into advocacy of gun control and is just as swiftly blown off by Geraldo.
The ominous music plays again and the story of the abduction of Katie Richards told by her friend Rachel Zeitz. While walking together on a cold Vermont street, the two were accosted by serial killer Gary Schaefer. Rachel managed to run to safety, while a crying Katie was forced into the car. She was later found murdered and in such a horrible state that family members had trouble identifying her. A snippet of an interview with Katie’s mother is guaranteed to heart wrench even the most jaded of viewers.
Ken Wooden, author of the “Child Lures” abduction prevention program, is introduced. Ken demonstrates how easy it is to lure unsuspecting children and teens from a shopping center and into his car, complete with Geraldo and hidden cameras in tow. He sweet talks several kids into complying, each in a matter of minutes. Stranger danger paranoia be damned, this segment is unnerving.
This segways into showing how these abduction techniques were used for real by serial killer/confessor Gerald Stano. More carnage photos and a testimonial from a grieving mother. If you asked an AI to create a stereotypical creepy sex killer, it would come out looking exactly like Stano.
A rogue's gallery of supposed mugshots is shown with Geraldo’s voiceover explaining that these sex killers are literally anywhere and everywhere. We get Gacy, Lucas, Kemper, DeSalvo, Wayne Williams (another “innocent” guy), Christopher Wilder, Bianchi, Toole, Bundy, annnnnd…
…The award for Creepiest Motherfucker on the Show goes to Joseph Kallinger. Bearded and batshit looking, we meet Joe on the grounds of the mental institution that he is committed to. He lazily puffs on a cigarette and looks Thorazined right out of his mind. He sits for an interview with Geraldo and explains how he’s a patient person who likes to help people and wanted to kill everyone on Earth then himself so he could become God. Joe only killed three, including his own son. He tranquilly explains how hallucinated voices from God command him to do things like cutting another patient’s throat in the hospital last March 11th. In a very subdued manner, he tells Geraldo that he would murder him before slowly licking his lips in the most deranged possible manner. This was pure nightmare fuel for the 11-year-old me.
A plug plays on how to order the Child Lures book and it’s back to the studio and Alabama death row. We are once again introduced to Judith Neelley, via satellite. Geraldo takes us back down Bummer Road with a recap of Judith and her husband Alvin’s killing spree. The swinging couple- who look like every crazed, redneck stereotype this side of a shitty Rob Zombie remake- liked to cruise around, looking for women to abduct, some as young as 13. After being inticed into their car they would be raped by Alvin then murdered and dumped by both of them.
Judith’s defense is that she was just another victim of the evil Alvin and was forced to take part in the murders under threat of her life. There is little doubt that she probably suffered some awful abuse, but nothing quite to the extent of her victims, one of which she injected with liquid drain cleaner. A psychologist who worked for her defense team backed up her claims of unaccountability. The next interviewee, a man who had been shot by Judith after his wife was murdered, called bullshit on the whole act. Geraldo does an enthralling 15 second interview with a young woman whom the Neelleys attempted to abduct. The camera cuts back to Judy, who is looking around for a hole to crawl into, and Rivera verbally pimp-slaps her by reminding her that an execution took place that very day and that nobody believes her.
Where Are They Now?
-F. Lee Bailey died in 2021 after a long life of service defending wrongly accused suspects such as Albert DeSalvo and O.J. Simpson.
-Jack Levin is a Professor of Criminology & Sociology at Northwestern University and looks significantly less awesome than he did in the 80’s.
-Gary Schaefer was sentenced to 30-years-to-life for murder and died in 2023 at the Kentucky State Penitentiary. One can only wonder/hope that he was celled up with Fleece Johnson.
-Ken Wooden passed away in Vermont in 2023 at the age of 87. He authored three books. As a hopeless nostalgic of 1980’s stranger danger, he holds a place in my heart and I hope he’s resting in peace.
-Gerald Eugne Stano was executed in Florida’s electric chair in 1998. While convicted of nine murders, there is speculation that his confessions to many of those and the remaining 32 were false and made both out of both pressure from law enforcement and a masochistic desire for attention.
-Joe Kallinger died in 1996 in a Pennsylvania prison from heart failure. He was transferred to state prison from the nut farm in 1990 and spent at least the last five years of his life on 24-hour suicide watch. He was said to have hallucinated a woman’s floating severed head and The Holy Spirit in his toilet bowl, both of which spoke to him.
-Alvin Neelley died while serving a life sentence in Georgia in 2005. His body went unclaimed and was buried in the prison cemetery.
-Judith Ann Neelley’s death sentence was commuted to life in 1999, only days from her scheduled execution. She remains in Tutwiler Women’s Prison in Alabama and is eligible for parole every five years. She has never wavered from her version of events. She and Alvin left behind a daughter who was raised in foster care.
Segment 5: Justifiable Homicide
The pre-commercial bumper shows the glorious, unedited news footage of Gary Plauche’s shooting of Jeffey Doucet. A clip of the Manson interview is played, with Geraldo arguing with Charlie about whether or not he’s the devil.
In the studio, Rivera reminds the viewers that not everyone who kills is a perverted psychopath. We cut to a Miami jewelry store where the proprietor, Boris, describes a fatal shooting of an attempted armed robber, whom Geraldo identifies as a “punk.” The store owner expresses remorse at the situation, but points out that the robber “chose his own day to die.” The police agree and the killing is ruled as justified.
In rural South Carolina, an 11-year-old boy, home alone, shoots and kills two potential home invaders. In an interview with the boy’s mother, she quotes the boy saying, “Mama, they looked like rough men.” This may be the line of the night.
On to Louisiana, where we again see the news footage- a staple of every gorehound Banned from TV/Faces of Death-style mondo video- of the Gary Plauche shooting. Jeffrey Doucet, Plauche’s son Jody’s karate instructor, had kidnapped the boy. Jody was taken out of state and continually sexually abused by Doucet. After his arrest and return to Louisiana, Doucet was being perp-walked through the airport. Plauche, wearing a disguise of a cap and sunglasses and casually talking on a pay phone, turns, points a gun, and fucking domes Doucet right in front of the police and news cameras. Gary is restrained by police who ask, “Why, Gary, why??” immediately realizing what had just happened.
I cannot overstate the vicarious catharsis that I experience while watching this video. Myself, and virtually every other father that I know, like to loudly proclaim that we would act in an identical manner to Plauche if the same situation were to happen to our own son or daughter. It’s an easy statement to make and requires no real action on our part. But to actually take matters into our own hands, and in such a bold, ballsy, and reckless manner as Plauche, is a whole different game. One much easier said than done.
Gary Plauche was arrested and charged with 2nd degree murder. After much public support and weighing of the circumstances, he was ordered to receive psychiatric help and the charges were dropped. A-fucking-men.
Next we meet a family in Southern California. Elderly and ailing couple, Jay and Gladys McFadden, had formed a failed suicide pact. An audio tape plays of Gladys’ wishes and assurances that her death was totally consensual. Jay, surrounded by his children, hysterically wails and cries, radiating so much pain and grief that it is hard to watch. He cusses and unintelligibly snaps at Geraldo after being asked a stupid question. The McFadden daughter explains that Jay had dropped the gun after shooting her mother and was unable to fulfill his end of the pact. He panicked, called 911, and was arrested for murder. The muder charges were eventually dropped and Jay was given probation for aiding and abetting a suicide. He continually reminds his children that he wants to die.
In the studio we talk to 11-year-old Todd Knight and family about the aforementioned shooting of the two burglars in North Carolina. Soft spoken and humble, he does not consider himself a hero for his administration of swift Southern Justice. His family seems traumatized by the events.
Outro to the commercial break, we get another clip of Charles Manson delivering great lines about being above all law and some wacky, psychedelic dance moves.
Where Are They Now?
-Boris Falkov, jewelry store owner, is alive and well in Miami. Tip: Don’t ever attempt to strongarm a guy named “Boris.” It won’t work out well for you.
-Gary Plauche, despite what the show told us, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was given a suspended sentence. He later expressed no regrets for killing Doucet and claimed he would do it again. He died of a stroke in 2014 at the age of 68.
-Jody Plauche still lives in Louisiana and is an advocate for victims of child sexual abuse. He authored a book about the events titled, “Why, Gary, Why?” And has referred to his father as, “the greatest dad of all time.” This writer agrees with that assessment.
-Jay McFadden, although debilitated by both grief and a series of strokes, went on in life, with his children stating that he remained industrious and kept himself busy. He finally joined his wife in death in 2010 at the age of 87.
-Todd Knight’s whereabouts are not known. Honestly, I did not put much effort into locating him. Leave the little gunslinger be.
Segment 6: Mass Killers & More Manson
For any younger readers, it might be hard to imagine a time when mass shootings weren’t something that regularly popped up on your news feed while checking your phone and then were quickly swept under the rug a week later. I’m not even sure what the exact numbers are or how much more common mass shootings are today. I only know that the cases Geraldo covers in the opening of this segment were truly shocking and were often front page news for weeks after the fact.
Queue the creepy ass music. Chicago, 1966. A man named Richard Speck, his ugly face so pockmarked it would make Edward James Olmos feel bad for him, annihilates eight student nurses in one night. The nurses headshots are juxtaposed over the bloody crime scene. Speck is shown casually smoking in court.
Austin, also in 1966. Charles Whitman climbs the tower of The University of Texas after killing his wife and mother. He snipes 42 people, 12 fatally before being killed by police. A shot of his corpse is shown.
Southern California, 1984. The infamous McDonald's massacre is perpetrated by James Huberty. 21 men, women, and children were killed and we are not spared the bloody news footage of the aftermath. Huberty left the house that day telling his wife he was going “hunting for humans.”
Again, it’s impossible to understate the amount of carnage that aired on network television back then. I remember regularly seeing similar gory death photos on shows like 20/20, as well. Today, that stuff is censored everywhere. YouTube channels specifically covering shootings blur out the effects of the very catastrophes that they are choosing to show. Other outlets have downright banned the use of words like “murder”, “suicide”, and “rape” and instead summarize crimes like they are talking to toddlers. Even pay services like Netflix, who don’t have to answer to sponsors or the FCC, pussy out when it comes to true life gore. Don’t get the wrong idea, I have my limits, too. When I get a serious case of the heebie-jeebies I do the sensible thing and turn the blood and guts off. If you choose to watch a program titled “Murder: Live from Death Row,” we all know why you’re here. You’re not fooling anybody. Sorry, I digress.
OG postal shooter, “Crazy” Pat Sherrill’s rampage is covered and a tearful co-worker describes watching his friends die.
We see the then-current record holder for a mass murder in David Burke. He caused the crash of PSA Flight 1771, killing everyone on board. Crime scene crews are shown hauling plastic bags, presumably full of body parts, out of the impact zone.
Back to San Quentin and more Charles Manson, delivering his most outrageous lines yet. Geraldo feigns disgust while daydreaming about Nielsen ratings. Charlie rambles on about how he doesn’t care about your society because you’re all a bunch of assholes. He feels he’s been scapegoated and made into what the public needs him to be. I could seriously listen to Manson yammer on for hours. Think whatever you want about that. Geraldo’s voiceover calls him a “paranoid psychotic,” blatantly disregarding everything that Vincent Bugliosi has previously said. There isn’t any doubt, though, that Manson is getting more and more wacky the longer the interview goes on. He sings, he dances, he talks gibberish. He claims no matter how much you try and box him in that his mind is still free. It’s in the desert, it’s in the mountains, man!
We return to the studio with Doris Tate, mother of Sharon on the panel. Like Bugliosi, she believes all of his antics are an act, performed for attention.
During the commercial break an ad for Vivarin plays. I didn’t think it was possible for me to become any more stupidly nostalgic about the 80’s while watching this, but that commercial put me right over the edge. As the kids say, if you know, you know.
Doris Tate tells Geraldo she feels that the members of the Manson family are as equally responsible for the murders as Manson himself, agreeing with a statement Charlie had made earlier. Her reasoning for this conclusion is made abundantly clear shortly after. Bugliosi agrees and adds that the family members were already dangerous and had “murder in their blood.” Manson and the anti-establishment sentiment of the 1960’s brought it to the surface.
Geraldo sticks his own neck on the chopping block, telling Bugliosi that sources have informed him that Manson was the first of the “satanic cult leaders” and that there are still murders being carried out in his name. The look on Bugliosi’s face is priceless as he wonders if Geraldo is mentally retarded and dumbfoundedly replies, “Who told you that?” Bugliosi does then concede that there are likely other crimes and murders committed by the Manson Family, but nothing recent as Geraldo had implied.
Doris is sure that Manson and his cronies will never be released from prison. She attends parole hearings but only of Watkins and Atkins, the actual killers of Sharon Tate. Those other victims can get their own fucking families to advocate for them. Bugliosi adds that he feels that the death sentences originally handed down were an appropriate punishment.
Where Are They Now?
-Richard Speck was sentenced to death in 1967. His sentence was later commuted to 100-300 years and he died of heart failure in a Joliet prison in 1991. Five years later a video tape would surface showing that Speck had been turned out behind bars and seemed to enjoy his role as a prison bitch. On the tape, he is seen wearing women’s panties, sporting hormonal treatment induced breasts, using hard drugs, blowing other prisoners, and bragging about his crimes.
-Charles Whitman, James Huberty, Patrick Sherrill and David Burke were all killed by police or committed suicide at the scenes of their crimes.
-Doris Tate died from a brain tumor in 1992. The Doris Tate Crime Victims Bureau was named in her honor and continues as the non-profit Crime Victims Alliance.
-Vincent Bugliosi died from cancer in 2015 at the age of 80. He was the author of 16 books with subjects ranging from true crime to politics and history to a massive tome about the assaination of John F. Kennedy.
Segment 7: Death Row & Victim’s Families
Handheld mirrors jut out from between bars as Geraldo walks the cellblock of Alabama’s death row. The place looks cold and claustrophobic. The cells are about the size of a broom closet and made all the more sterile looking by the inmates’ state-issued white uniforms. For some reason a shot of California’s double-seater gas chamber is shown before Geraldo sidles up to the bars for a chat with some of the condemned.
Henry Hayes is polite, soft-spoken, and timid looking in his cell. He is also a former Ku Klux Klansman who randomly selected a black man, named Michael Donald, off the streets of Mobile and abducted, lynched, and murdered him. The photos from this crime scene are, by far, the most graphic of the night. Arguments by opposing sides will go on for eternity regarding the culpability or lack thereof in cases like Rodney King, Michael Brown, or George Floyd. The murder of Michael Donald leaves no room for such debate. This is as abhorrent as it can possibly get. Hayes says that he wants to live and that life is important.
A few cells down is Richard Fraser. He says he’s an innocent man and hell yes, he’s scared to die. Being on death row makes him hate the damn world.
We travel to death row in Texas to meet John Joseph Cannon, behind a wall of visiting room glass. He feels particularly slighted by the method of execution in Texas, lethal injection, seeing it as an insult. At 17-years-old he killed a woman who had taken him in before raping her corpse.
On to Fort Worth, where we are shown family members of various murder victims attending a support group. Their voices are full of agony and bereavement. These are the clips that noise musicians sample and make sound collages out of. One woman recounts having to tell her four-year-old that Daddy isn’t coming home. Another recalls the sexual elements of her parents’ murders not being admissible in court. She breaks down and gets a supporting hug from Geraldo.
Blowhard F. Lee Bailey returns to the studio for more dullness. When his legal techniques are challenged by Geraldo, he vehemently denies ever attacking victims in court. Rivera then brings on two members of a victim’s advocacy group for an impromptu face off with Bailey. They express their concern about victims having no support from anyone but the state while F. Lee Bailey looks like he’s about to fall asleep.
Florida Governor Bob Martinez is interviewed, via satellite. He expresses his satisfaction with signing so many death warrants, but derides the post-sentencing legal delays leading up to an execution. He also doesn’t care much for those pesky activists who show up and cause so much trouble.
The outro gives us a glimpse of a large candlelight vigil being held in Texas by the families of murder victims.
Where Are They Now?
-Henry Francis Hayes took his last ride on Alabama’s Yellow Mama on June 6, 1997. He is the only klansman to be executed in the 20th century for a race-related homicide.
-Richard Wayne Frazier (misspelled on the show as “Fraser”) was able to have his 1985 conviction for the 1977 murders of Mobile couple Jesse and Irene Doughtry overturned on appeal. He was granted a new trial where he was again convicted and resentenced to death in 1990. His sentence was commuted to life without parole in 2001. He is no longer in custody and presumed to have died in prison.
-John Joseph Cannon was insulted executed by lethal injection in 1998. At the dying age of 38, he had spent more than half of his life on death row.
- Bob Martinez served as Governor of the State of Florida until 1991, signing over three dozen death warrants and presiding over nine executions. After leaving office he served as Drug Czar in the cabinet of George Bush, Sr. and as a consultant for law firms. He resides in the Tampa area.
Segment 8: Death Penalty Debate & Wrap Up
Gov. Martinez returns to remind the viewers that the criminals condemned to die made a choice to commit murder. He feels the system is fair and has an ample process of checks and balances.
Henry Schwartzschild of the American Civil Liberties Union stands up to refute the governor. He opposes the death penalty on moral grounds, while clarifying that he doesn’t excuse the crimes of the condemned. In his opinion, capital punishment prevents no crimes and solves no social ills.
The satellite feed to Colorado’s death row fails and Richard Drake sits, unresponsive, in awkward silence.
We return to Gov. Martinez, who is given an ally in Matt Byrne, father of murdered police officer Edward. They double-team ACLU spokesman Schwartzschild with another reminder of the personal responsibility of individuals choosing to commit murder. Byrne feels that they forfeit their own lives in doing so. This is met with huge applause from the studio audience.
The technical issues are solved and we get Richard Drake in Colorado. He’s a weaselly guy who sounds like he’s speaking through his nostrils. He has already had his death sentence for killing his wife commuted, but fears an imminent return to death row. Geraldo is especially hostile toward Drake and interrupts nearly every statement that he makes. Drake talks some legal mumbo-jumbo before his ex-father-in-law stands up in the studio and proclaims his hope that Drake will be put to death. Drake is given no chance to respond.
During the commercial break a bumper plays of Charles Manson playing it up to Geraldo so patronizingly, it becomes impossible to view the interview as anything other than a farce.
Geraldo wraps up the show with maximum fear mongering, stating that the Founding Fathers could have never imagined this current generation of serial and mass murderers. One can only assume that he is inferring that constitutional rights should no longer then apply. He bids us viewers goodnight.
We close with the conclusion of the Manson interview. Charlie is being shackled up with cuffs and a belly chain and is notably more subdued. He and Geraldo seem to hurl veiled threats at each other before amicably parting. Manson reminds us that he never actually killed anyone. He leaves us with a statement of grandeur: “The world wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for me. If it wasn't for me, you’d all be gone.”
Where Are They Now?
-Henry Schwartzschild died from cancer in 1996 in White Plains, New York at the age of 70. He retired from the ACLU in 1990 and focused his activism on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. No word yet on whether or not he was able to solve that problem.
-Richard Drake remained off of death row for the 1982 murder-for-hire of his wife, Regina, in front of their three children. Both he and his brother James, the actual killer, have been paroled. (The 2nd photo is actually Richard’s brother, James. They look enough alike, though)
-Charles Miles Manson, aged 83, was transferred in November 2017 from Corcoran State Prison to a hospital in Bakersfield where he died on the 19th from a combination of a heart attack, respiratory failure, and colon cancer. He had been denied parole 12 times and spent over 60 years of his life incarcerated in some form. He left behind an estate estimated to be worth from $400,000 to $1million. To this day, books, documentaries, feature films, and podcasts continue to be produced regaling his life and crimes. Manson memorabilia regularly sells for hundreds or thousands of dollars, making him an entertainment juggernaut, on par with Elvis.
After this last, extended viewing of this special, I can say that I am glad that it is still easily available, given the content. I had uploaded a VHS rip of Geraldo Rivera’s follow up special, “Devil Worship: Exposing Satan’s Underground” to YouTube only to have it quickly deleted and a strike put on my account. The violation? “Promoting Self-Harm.” What the fuck ever. These specials are a fun and morbid slice of a bygone and recent history. Hysterias and public panics come and go, with some remaining or returning more frequently than others. The desire of creators to aggrandize and exaggerate has given way to a sterilized need to be “respectful” and as non-abrasive as humanly possible. And this, in my opinion, is much less entertaining. Make no mistake about it, True Crime, in all of its platforms, is entertainment and nothing more. It is junk food for the mind. Who the hell wants to eat junk food when all of the sugar, salt, additives, cholesterol, and anything else that may be potentially harmful has been removed?
