Death Penalty News

In January, NPR aired excerpts from four tapes recorded behind the scenes during Virginia executions. It was only the second time in history that audio from inside an execution chamber had ever been published. The records revealed details about the last seconds of prisoners’ lives and indicated the Virginia Department of Corrections may have tried to cover up one of the state’s recent botched executions. A former employee donated the four tapes and hundreds of other execution documents to the Library of Virginia more than a decade ago. But shortly after NPR aired the audio, something unusual happened. A representative from the Department of Corrections requested that the library give the records back. Within a week, the library complied. The collection is once again behind prison walls.

A rare audio recording of an exchange between a death row inmate, his sister and prison staff two days before the man was hanged will be presented as evidence in a lawsuit filed by 2 condemned prisoners contesting the constitutionality of informing convicts of their executions just hours before they take place. The reel-to-reel recording at the Osaka Detention House in 1955 was made at the behest of Sakuro Tamai, the prison warden. The inmate was handed the death sentence for fatally shooting a police officer during the course of a robbery. He was informed of the time of his execution 2 days beforehand. The recording lasts around 100 minutes. A member of staff is heard telling the inmate to make sure he gets everything off his chest. The sister visited over 2 days and told her brother how his family was holding up. The inmate chats about his childhood and his thoughts for his aged mother. He ends the conversation by thanking his sister for all that she had done. “Please give my best re...