Constance...
left this world a better place than she found it.
It's a small... but difficult thing.
- Good shot! Good shot!
- Geez. - Let's go.
- So, what'd you get? - I talked to the Austin prosecutor.
Belyeu's a joke. Actually, the exact phrase he used was...
"Big hat, no cattle."
- He was sanctioned twice. Fucked up the penalty phase. - What?
Gale could've got life on mitigating factors.
And despite major pro bono offers from some of the top lawyers in the country...
Gale stuck with him all through the appeals process...
which, by the way, Belyeu continued to screw up.
So Belyeu's a joke.
Great.
- Anything else? - Nothing on Berlin.
Oh, we pick up the payola money in Houston tonight.
- Houston? - That's what the head office said.
- Overheat light came on twice. Um... - Come on.
- Ah!
Oh, man! I never knew a million bucks could weigh so much.
- Half a million. - Well, it's still heavy.
But a million sounds better for our st...
Excuse me. Your story. A million bucks.
No, no. Wait. A million bucks in cash.
Just relax, Zack. It's only money.
So, you comin' in?
- Excuse me? - You wanna come in?
- Please. - I thought you were into guys with money.
- Zack? It's open. - What?
- Well, maybe the maid forgot.
- Look.
Well... We gotta call somebody.
Wait.
- What is that? - I don't know.
This is not good.
- I'm gonna check the bathroom. - No, no. Bitsey, no.
You wait there.
- Bitsey! - What? Zack, There could've been prints.
Look.
The lady at reception says that no one asked for you. All the room keys are different.
- Just she and her husband have masters. - What'd you tell her?
- That you have a jealous boyfriend. - Thanks. How about the V.C.R.?
She didn't ask. I think she assumed it had something to do with why he was jealous.
- You sure we shouldn't call the cops? - No.
Anyway, whoever got in here without a key in broad daylight...
was probably smart enough not to leave prints.
I have the remote. Here.
- Are you sure you wanna see what's on here? - No.
- Try three. - Three.
I hope this isn't what I think it is.
Oh, my God.
- Is it her? - Yeah, it's her.
- Oh, man.
Geez.
Belyeu said to bring the tape first thing tomorrow.
He also said you were right about not calling the police.
You gonna be all right?
No.
He deserves it though, probably. There's a lot of sick people in this world.
And if they done wrong and they're found guilty...
All right. Let's just say Gale's telling the truth.
Maybe some right-wing fuck set him up, arranged the perfect murder.
Why would you send a magazine journalist proof a few hours before you've won?
- It does not make sense. - No. It's perfect.
Whoever this is knows how hard it is to get a retrial in Texas.
They know the magazine can't give this any substantial play before the execution.
We'd have to give it to a daily or a network. That won't happen.
- But mostly, they know I'll tell Gale today. - So?
What if Constance's murder was just a means of getting at Gale...
not only to get rid of him, but to make abolishionists look crazy?
Of course he sympathizes with murderers. He is one.
They make sure he sits six years on death row...
for a brutal rape and murder, then they let him die...
die knowing everyone will remember him with disgust.
They destroy his life, his work, his memory...
- and they make him watch. - That's a lot of hate.
- Well, then why release it? - Hate's no fun if you keep it to yourself.
Whoa. We got company.
- The cowboy? - Mm-hmm.
And doing a lousy job of hiding.
Oh, he must think we're idiots.
- Is he gaining? - No. He's just sitting back there.
Get a license plate number.
- Ohh. He's turned off. - God, I'm sorry.
What does this guy want?
Fine. And, uh, Bobbi, could you make a quick copy of that videotape...
and bring in Miss Bloom's original when that's done?
- I don't blame you for not watching that twice. - I couldn't sleep afterwards.
I understand. I tell folks I'm no more afraid of the Grim Reaper...
than I am of a Presbyterian on Mother's Day, but, uh...
watching that tape, well, uh...
I had to keep telling myself that's not Constance just to get through.
Unfortunately, others may argue the same.
But it's in her kitchen, in her house.
Currently home to Weirdos, Incorporated.
Arguably, that tape could have been made by anybody with $20 and a tolerance for vulgarity.
- Will it get us a postponement? - Us?
This ain't my first rodeo, Miss Bloom.
Now, I got to tell you that there's a machine a-runnin'
And come tomorrow night at 6:00, that machine gonna wanna be fed.
- All here, Mr. Belyeu. - Thank you, Aaron.
Now, to add to our troubles, your own credibility may come into question.
- Why? - Well, you've been fraternizing with the condemned.
- I've been what? - He's the most likely candidate to have put you onto that tape.
He's a persuasive man, you an out-of-state woman. That don't look so good.
Mr. Belyeu, someone put the tape in my room.
That's a fact for which we have no evidence.
- Thank you, Bobbi. - Thanks.
Let's not throw a pity party and sit around reading Kafka.
Could be we find a sympathetic judge.
- I'll file within the hour. You goin' over to see Gale? - Yeah.
Fine. I'll give you a call over to the motel later with an update.
My coat. Shoot.
- What? Who? - Did you see him? The cowboy.
- He was here? - He's in the lobby.
Go see if his truck's out front. Tail him, get a license number.
Find out who he is. Don't screw this up. It's important.
- How are you gonna get to the prison? - Taxi.
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
I don't think you're being straight with me. I walk out of Belyeu's office...
- the guy's in the lobby. - Maybe you should just calm down.
Visitor, please stay seated.
Maybe you should sit down.
His name is Dusty Wright. He's the local DeathWatch director before Constance.
He's a bullhorner.
He's a zealot who thinks that a good demonstration has to end with riots and arrests.
DeathWatch fired him because he punched somebody at a rally.
But Constance kept him in the organization. He adored her.
They were close. Real close.
He testified at my trial.
Testified to support you or to oppose the death penalty?
He testified against me.
- Against you? - He testified about the drinking.
Alcohol is a mitigating factor in capital cases.
I always told myself that he did it in some sick way...
to try to help me get a reduced sentenced.
I guess he believes I really killed her.
Dusty's a man easily blinded by hatred.
Maybe he hated you because you were seeing Constance.
I wasn't seeing Constance.
She had your semen inside her.
I know. Look, it's just... It's a little more complicated than that.
Respect for life means every life.!
Respect for life means every life!
When you kill someone, you rob their family.
Not just of a loved one but of their humanity.
You harden their hearts with hate.
You take away their capacity for civilized dispassion.
You condemn them to blood lust.
It's a cruel and horrible thing.
- But indulging that hate will never help.
The damage is done.
And once we've had our pound of flesh, we're still hungry.
We leave the death house muttering...
that lethal injection was just too good for them.
In the end, a civilized society...
must live with a hard truth.
He who seeks revenge digs two graves.
They're bringing Betty Sue's people out.
Thank you, Dusty.
Just look. Look at those losers.
Rednecks, ghetto hustlers, drug addicts, schizophrenics.
They're murderers, and who cares if they die?
Who cares if the cycle, if it just goes on and on and on and on?
Who cares?
Hey, did you make it to your meeting today?
Yeah. I think I have to find one less guru-like.
- Did you take your, uh, medicine? - Mm-hmm.
Feel better?
- Mm - hmm.
You know those stages of Kubler-Ross?
The ones the dying go through?
Um, anger...
denial...
bargaining...
uh...
- Depression. - Depression, acceptance.
- Which one are you? - Denial.
Well, denial's good. That's a... That's a good one.
- The whole idea of there being a process makes me tired.
I'm not up to the job of dying person...
marveling at blades of grass...
lecturing strangers to relish every moment.
- Mending bridges. - Mending bridges.
- Confessing regret. Ohh.
- Oh, what, no regrets? - Nope.
Wow.
I take that back.
- I wish I'd had a child. - Yeah, so do I.
- I'm sorry, David. - No.
I guess I just wish I had risked more.
Oh, and not enough sex. Should have had more sex.
- Really? - Mm.
Well, how... How many lovers did you have?
- Including college? - Including college.
Well, sex is really... You know, it's not all it's cracked up to be.
- It's so overrated.
- You should have had more sex. - Mm-hmm.
You work so hard not to be seen as a sex object.
Before long, you're not seen at all.
Hey.
I see you.
- You want to make it five?
- Complete the hand. - What, a pity lay?
- No, thanks. - Hey.
It wouldn't be pity.
- Are you okay? - Yeah. Don't worry.
No, it's good.
Just talk to me. Let me hear your voice.
- I'm here. I'm here. - Okay. Just hold me tight.
Just tight. I'm so scared.
- Okay. I'm sorry. - No. Don't stop.
- Just... - Okay.
Stay with me, please. Please stay with me.
- I'm not going anywhere. - I just need to feel you inside.
I'm right here.
I'm so tired.
I'm so tired of being so afraid.
- I'm right here. - Help me. Help me, please. Just...
- Just make it go away. - Okay. Okay.
- Make it go away. - Okay. I'm right here.
I'm not going anywhere.
- Can I help you? - Oh. No. I'm leaving.
I- I'm sorry. Thanks.
It was Dusty.
He had a motive. He knew you both. He visited that morning.
If I could answer that for sure...
we wouldn't be having this conversation.
It's what I need you for. That's why I chose you.
- Now I've told you everything. - But I still don't know.
- I need more time. - You'll find time.
You should have done this earlier.
You're not here to save me.
You're here to save my son's memory of his father.
That's all I want.
You're gonna let them kill you.
Bitsey, we spend our whole lives trying to stop death.
Eating, inventing, loving, praying...
fighting, killing.
But what do we really know about death?
Just that nobody comes back.
But there comes a point in life...
a moment...
when your mind outlives its desires...
its obsessions...
when your habits...
survive your dreams...
and when your losses...
Maybe death is a gift.
- You wonder. - That's it. Let's go, Gale.
All I can tell you is that by this time tomorrow I'll be dead.
I know when.
I just can't say why.
You have 24 hours to find out.
Good-bye, Bitsey.
- Ms. Bloom? - Yeah.
Thought I'd return your coat. Gettin' kinda chilly.
- Any news from our video intruder friend? - No. Any word on the appeal?
Denied. Tape went to a federal judge two hours ago.
Now what you got was definitely a snippet.
Could be your video supplier friend has more nasty previews scheduled.
Best you not get into too much sightseeing right now.
Just stick close to your motel room.
- How's David? - He's holding up. Gonna be a hard night.
Will you tell him I'll take care of it? About his son, I mean.
I'll do that. You stayin' for the execution?
Then I'll see you tomorrow. Watch yourselves.
Mr. Belyeu?
Were Dusty Wright and Constance close?
Oh, yeah. Thick as thieves, those two.
- Lovers? - Whoa. You plowin' a little too close to the cotton, Bitsey.
That was just a rumor. Nothing more. Night-night.
Zack, wake up.
- Did you throw the towel on the floor? - What?
This towel was on my bathroom floor. Did you throw it there?
Yeah, I guess. What, it's a motel.
- Would you do that at home? - No.
Jesus, Bitsey, it's not like we're staying in the friggin' Four Seasons.
Come on. Get the TV. We're taking it with us.
Taking it with us? What are you talking about?
- Where we going? - Austin.
- Get the TV. - All right.
Come on.
- Wanna make a hundred bucks? - A hundred bucks? What do I gotta do?
We're going over the crime scene.
Put the TV on the bed, Zack.
Now, for the next hour, I want you to do exactly what I say when I say to do it.
If I say jump, you jump.
- You want me to jump? - That's just a figure of speech.
- Your boyfriend put the tripod back. - He's not my boyfriend anymore.
- Do you still have a video camera? - Yeah.
- Good. Get it. - I gotta collect first.
Zack, give her the money.
Can you move that stuff off the counter for me? By the lamp? Yeah.
Yeah. Thanks.
- Put the gloves on the dish rack. - I don't have a dish rack.
- Zack, could you... - Yeah.
Turn them inside out.
And put-put the duct tape on the floor.
By the stove.
Okay.
- Now. Could you... What's your name? - Nico's fine.
Nico, I want you to lie down facing the counter.
We can imagine that part.
- Zack, put her in position. - Okay.
All right. Move... Just move this way.
- All right. - Yeah, forward. Forward. There.
Okay. On her side. Right.
Her top leg out a little. There.
Okay. Now, look at this.
She moves her foot. I noticed this back at the motel.
She moves her foot quite deliberately, and then she's still.
For another 15 seconds she's still.
And then she starts to struggle. Now that doesn't make sense.
If this was a murder, she'd just be struggling and then be still. She'd be dead.
Maybe she was faking, hoping he'd go away.
Or...
- We've got to bag her. - We're going a little bit too far here.
Okay.
- I'll do it. - Uh...
Uh-huh.
Well, thank you, Bobbi. Thank you.
Supreme Court death clerk gave the go-ahead.
Give the keys to Zack and stand over there by the tripod.
I want you to wait three minutes before you take the bag off.
I'm really not so sure about this. It's way too dangerous.
Three full minutes, Zack. Stand over there with her.
And keep your eyes on your watch.
Go ahead.
- Twenty-two seconds... - She shouldn't be doin' this.
Oh, my God.
This isn't cool!
- Bitsey?
No more experiments, all right? Just tell me what's going on.
- Are you okay? - She did it herself.
Ohh.
She did it herself. Ohh.
She used the gloves to keep her fingerprints off the tape and bag.
Then she put them back on the disk rack...
but upside-down and inside-out, a housewife's habit.
Now, a murderer would have just tossed them aside...
- like you do with a towel in a crap motel. - Maybe. All right, maybe.
- But why wear these? - Well, they threw me. But she needed them.
She knew that she would instinctively try to rip the bag off.
And she swallowed the key so she couldn't get to it.
She made sure there was no way out.
Why not hang yourself or take pills?
- Why take your clothes off? Why make it look like a murder? - I don't know.
It's so calculated.
She's handcuffed, taped at the mouth, the gloves, the tripod...
Why, Bitsey, why fake your own murder? It doesn't make sense.
The woman's a bleeding-heart abolitionist. Why frame an innocent man?
- Why send Gale to the chair for what... - What?
She had to know some innocent jerk would take the fall.
Oh, my God, Zack. That's it.
That's why. To prove it happens.
- To have absolute proof that the system convicts innocents. - Get out of here.
No. That's how she thought.
Come on, think about it. This woman lived for DeathWatch.
If she's gonna die anyway, why not die for it?
That's why the tripod was here, to record proof, undeniable proof.
- That's why we got the video. - So a dead woman put the tape in your room?
No, of course not. I mean, she needed help.
Someone to keep it, release it. Someone dedicated to the cause.
Someone she could trust.
What a dump. The guy's a freak.
Come on.
Dusty's a bullhorner, a zealot who's O.D.'d on too many good causes.
You know, the original plan was probably for Dusty...
to release the tape after Gale's conviction.
You know, after a year or so.
It'd force him to dry out, give him back his dignity.
So Dusty Wright is sitting on this tape, waiting.
And he's the only one who knows about it.
So good ol' Dusty starts to think that an erroneous execution...
is a lot more politically useful than a last-minute save.
Because a last-minute save would only prove the system works.
Almost-martyrs don't count.
Dusty's thinking, what's one murder if it stops thousands?
So he'll release the whole tape only after the execution.
Which means he must have the original somewhere.
- What time is it? - It's 4:50.
Oh, Bitsey, Jesus!
I wanna talk about your tape.
No. Meet me down the hill at the gas station in 15 minutes.
Zack!
Don't move from the phone.
Call the second you see his pickup. Let it ring just once.
- Then get into the woods. - I know. Go.
- Into the woods, Zack. - Go!
Details of Gale's last meal were released today.
And they included pancakes with maple syrup...
All executions in the state of Texas take place at 6:00 p.m.
- Four pancakes. Maple syrup. - Four pancakes. Maple syrup.
- Fresh strawberries. - After completion of last words, the injection is administered.
- Fresh strawberries... large. - Fresh strawberries... large. - Fresh strawberries.
Sodium penthonal for sedation purposes...
- Reddi-wip whipped cream. - Puts you to sleep. - Reddi-wip whipped cream.
- Pancuronium bromide... - Chocolate shavings...
- extra chocolate. - To collapse the diaphragm and lungs.
Potassium chloride to stop the heart.
- Chocolate shavings, extra chocolate. - And chocolate shavings.
The whole cocktail costs the state of Texas...
approximately $86.08 per elimination.
- What do you miss most? Food. - Food.
- Talk to her in horse talk? - No.
Damn.
Damn!
Come on, cowboy, where are you?
8:30 p.m. We checked the next hotel on the list.
- Come on.
Shit!
It's ready?
- Fuck! - He didn't show up! Come on!
Please, Bitsy, come on.
Call everyone, Zack.
The governor, the warden, New York, the goddamn Supreme Court death clerk.
- How far is it? - You've got eight minutes, maybe more.
- We'll make it. We'll make it. - You can do it.
Go! Go! Go!
Shower. Go.
My God.
- Give me the time. - On that big pile-up on I-35...
Give me the goddamn time.
Oh, no. Not now. Not fucking now.
Shit! Shit! Shit!
Come on. Fuck. Fuck!
- Stop executions.
Hey, get the fuck off my spot, all right?
Thank you.
- How tight are you? - I got your two buttons.
Testing one, two...
- How's my, uh, light? - A little shine right there.
- I think he's doing Larry King Live at 8:00. - Oh. Can I smile?
Opinion polls conducted over the weekend show...
that 66% of all Americans are in favor of the death penalty.
Maybe you can get a shot of the protesters.
You can see over here that the people are represented...
- by 50% pro, 50% anti - death.
Hiddee-hiddee-hiddee-ho.! Time for David Gale to go.!
When Caine killed Abel, God cast him out. He didn't kill him.
He raped and killed that poor girl. As far as I'm concerned, he should die for it.
Hiddee-hiddee-hiddee-ho.!
- Murderers! - Time for David Gale to go.
They said on TV that he raped her first and then he strangled her.
- I think he deserves to die. - They stick that thing in his arm and he goes to sleep.
If you ask me, they ought to use a goddamn pickax.
- You're the murderer! - He should die.
A little-bitty pin prick.
The state of Texas has executed David Gale.
He was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m.
Strapped to the gurney at 6:02.
- David Gale was officially pronounced dead... - at 6:12 this evening.
- Texas has executed David... - Gale was pronounced dead at 6:12.
Death was pronounced at 6:12 this evening at the prison in Huntsville.
Since none of the victim's relatives was in attendance...
there will be no statement from the victim's family.
Here's what we know so far. Last night, NEWS Magazine posted on their web site...
a video obtained by reporter Bitsey Bloom.
- The footage appears to show... - Constance Harraway committing suicide.
Bloom reports that she received the tape Friday morning in a motel in Huntsville...
where she was staying while conducting Gale's last interview.
Apparently, the tape has been in the possession...
of former DeathWatch employee Dustin Emil Wright.
As you can see, police have been in and out of his cabin all morning...
looking for clues to his whereabouts.
- Since his 1994 conviction... - On death row awaiting execution.
Blacks and Latinos are five times more likely to face the death penalty than whites.
A fanatic in the movement to stop the death penalty.
- It's all there? - Actively seeking a Dustin Wright.
- A Dustin Wright. - It appears Wright withheld a tape to make...
a political point about the potential for error in capital punishment cases.
Passport and ticket as well.
Dana, what everyone here is asking...
It's a terrible tragedy, and there will be a full investigation.
And I assure you this man Dusty Wright will be caught and shown swift justice.
- Justice for Christ's sake! - The people of Texas are not deterred.
We're still solidly behind the death penalty because it works.
The system cannot be blamed for the acts of one deranged individual with an ax to grind.
And people have been put to death in the name of this justice.!
Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water, folks.
Of course, the ultimate irony is that David Gale...
The man who became an unwitting martyr...
May achieve in death what he worked for...
But could not accomplish in life.
This is A.J. Roberts reporting from Bastrop, Texas.
- Gracias. - De nada.
This just came.
- Is it David's? - Sí.
"Key to your freedom." What?
It's over.
- Now there is a line
- In Genesis nine After the flood
- Kill men who shed the blood
- Sharp is your needle
- Revenge is evil
- Wrong or right
- Blind is the justice
- Cool as a Judas kiss
- Dark as the night
- Dead men swollen on the bed
- White crosses hangin' overhead
- Deep is the final breath
- Long is a man's death
- Dead men swollen on the bed
- White crosses hangin' overhead
- Deep is the final breath
- Long is a man's death
- Thou shalt kill Cried from Calvary's hill
- A soul is a soul as we slaughter our own
- Locked in a cage and guns at our heads
- Singin'gospel in rage
- Sayin'they're better off dead
- One prick of the skin
- Wipes away sin
- An eye for an eye
- It's our hearts we're losin'
- - Ohh - - - Dead men swollen on the bed -
- White crosses hangin' overhead
- Deep is the final breath
- Long is a man's death
- Dead men swollen on the bed
- White crosses hangin' overhead
- Deep is the final breath
- Long is a man's death
- Death, death, death, death death, death, death, death
- Sharp is your needle needle, needle
- Another bleeding heart
- Dead men swollen on the bed
- White crosses hangin' overhead
- Deep is the final breath
- Long is a man's death
- Dead men swollen on the bed
- White crosses hangin' overhead
- Deep is the final breath
- Long is a man's death
- Dead men swollen on the bed
- White crosses hangin' overhead
- Deep is the final breath
- Long is a man's death