An unflinching look at capital punishment in Texas, a state that executes more people than any other in the USA.
Execution explored the plights of two young men on death row. The first half focused on Richard Cobb who committed rape and murder. The second half on Anthony Haynes who as a teenager shot to death an off duty policeman.
The program interviewed both men just days before they were due to be executed, Haynes has been on death row for some years
Cobb candidly speaks that the state does not want to rehabilitate him. He does come across as terrifying and having heard from one of the victims who was raped, shot but somehow survived her ordeal. Even as an opponent of capital punishment, I had little sympathy for his plight.
Haynes came across as genuinely remorseful as well as more articulate. He has spent over half is life in jail and received a last minute reprieve as a motion was filed that he had inadequate representation for his punishment phase when he was still a minor.
This was an uncomfortable documentary especially when you hear from the victim and the victims families who had to live with the consequences of the perpetrators crimes.