Charles Rhines: Death row chaplains speak out against the death penalty

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KSFY) - Charles Rhine’s' execution by lethal injection is set for Monday afternoon. He's filed two separate appeals both currently circulating through courts on the grounds that the pentobarbital doesn't meet the "ultra-short acting" standard for lethal injection.

He also asks that psychiatric and neurological experts be allowed to testify for Rhine’s' cognitive state. Some people say there is also new evidence of a few jurors' anti-gay biases that led to the death row sentence.

Charles Rhines was sentenced to death in 1993 for the murder of Donnivan Schaeffer while he was burglarizing a Rapid City doughnut shop in 1992. He’s now waiting for execution on death row while his chaplains come to his aid.

“Killing another person on death row doesn't solve that problem," Sister Patrick Murphy said.

Sister Patrick Murphy and Deacon Denny Davis are opposed to the death penalty. They act as Rhines' chaplains before he's slated to be executed Monday afternoon. He’s waited nearly 27 years for this day to come.

Murphy has been visiting Rhines for the past four months. She was connected with him after her sessions with Rodney Berget who was executed last October.

"They’re not the same people that they were when they went into death row. They committed terrible crimes and hurt people," Murphy said.

But she said she's inspired by how they've changed. Murphy sits toe to toe preparing for the day he would lie on a table and take his punishment, but he's not ready for that amid pending appeals.

Davis has visited with Rhines for the past few years and advocates for him.

"And whatever’s going on with him that's what we talk about. It isn't anything specific, it's never about the execution, and it’s never about the crime," Davis said.

He’s worked for years to abolish the death penalty after making its comeback in 1979.

"We’re talking about revenge and what do we want to do as a society in our prison system," Davis said.

But they say jail time does lead to rehabilitation and forgiveness. Murphy and Davis want both sides to realize two families are grieving the loss of life.

"I want to know where the empathy is for Charlie’s family because he's going to be murdered too," Davis said.

"And that's a stark reality that we do in South Dakota. We just don't believe in killing," Murphy said.

"When you get to know a human being and then their life is taken from you premeditated it's hard," Davis said.

20 states plus Washington D.C. have abolished the death penalty. Murphy and Davis both say they get why they do this, but they say it’s not necessary.

Rhines is set to be executed Monday at 1:30 p.m.

Source: ksfy.com, Ricardo Lewis, November 3, 2019

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