Sometime tonight, prison officials at Nashville's Riverbend Maximum Security Institution will take Edmund Zagorski from his cell on death row and move him to one of four 8-by-10-foot cells next to Tennessee's execution chamber. He'll spend the next three days there on "death watch," before the state puts him to death by lethal injection on Thursday night.
Zagorski says that, as he takes that final walk, he'll have the Molly Hatchet's 1979 hard-driving Southern rock classic "Flirtin' With Disaster" in his head.
I'm travelin' down the road, I'm flirtin' with disaster
I've got the pedal to the floor, My life is running faster
Prison officials will not permit interviews with men awaiting execution. The Scene sought an interview with Zagorski through his attorneys, but the request was denied by Riverbend Warden Tony Mays. We were able to get him written questions through an attorney who visited with him over the weekend. Zagorski answered them all.
Although some death row staff and prison officials have expressed support for clemency in Zagorski's case, and jurors from his original trial say they would have sentenced him to life without the possibility of parole if they'd had that option, Gov. Bill Haslam announced last week that he will not intervene to stop the execution. The Tennessee Supreme Court could rule this week on a lawsuit brought by dozens of death row inmates arguing that the state's lethal injection protocol amounts to torture.
Zagorski grew up in Tecumseh, Mich., and was 29 years old when he was convicted. He has been on death row for 34 years — since he was sentenced to death for murdering John Dale Dotson and Jimmy Porter after they met him to buy a large quantity of marijuana. As of this writing, barring intervention from the governor or the courts, Zagorski has less than 100 hours left to live.
Here's what he has to say.
Can you tell me about a happy time in your life, in prison or before you went to prison?
The gravel pits were my paradise. I didn’t like to spend much time at home because my mom was mentally ill. So I would go out to the gravel pits. I had privacy there, and there were swimming holes. I would race my motorcycle out there. I love motorcycles. I had a Harley. The girls loved a man on a Harley.
Is there a book or music that has been important to you during your time in prison?
The Washing of the Spears, the Rise and Fall of the Zulu Nation is my favorite book. It is about how the Zulus stood up to the British. They made a movie out of it. I also like The Seven Pillars of Wisdom. By reading that book you get a better understanding of the Middle East.
As far as music, I like old rock and roll from the ’70s and ’80s. Stevie Nicks is my favorite female singer. I like old Rod Stewart. Old Aerosmith. The song that I have been thinking about and will be in my head when they take me over there is “Flirting With Disaster” by Molly Hatchet.
How are you feeling this week as this date approaches? Has your daily routine changed at all?
Relieved it’s over. I feel good. I have no resentment against anybody. I am glad that I get to go out in good health instead of rotting away in prison.
Are you afraid of what will happen on Thursday?
No, not at all. I don’t want to be tortured with those drugs, but I am not afraid of death.
Is there anything you think people should know about death row and the men who live there?
That most of them don’t belong in here if you look at what it is that they have done and what the death penalty is supposed to be for. There are a very few exceptions, but most of the guys are really easy-going. I have been in here for 35 years now, and I have never had anything stolen from me.
Is there anything more you would like to say to Gov. Bill Haslam?
Thank you very much for your time. I appreciate you at least taking the time out to consider it.
Is there anything else you would like to say to the public about your life, the crimes for which you were convicted or your time in prison since?
To the general public, things are not always as they seem. I think people need to relax a little bit more. And be a little less judgmental about your neighbors. And try not to dictate everybody else’s life. Always try to have more friends than you do enemies.
Source: nashvillescene.com, Steven Hale, October 8, 2018
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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
