Life and Death Row

Original version

BBC One

BBC One Wales

BBC One is a TV channel that started broadcasting on the 20th April 1964. It replaced BBC Television.

BBC 1

BBC1

Wales

Documentaries

Factual: Crime & Justice

Capital punishment through the eyes of young people whose lives have been shaped by it.

The story of capital punishment through the eyes of young people whose lives have been shaped by it.

BBC Two

BBC Northern Ireland region started on 19th April 1955 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One Northern Ireland.

BBC One Northern Ireland

BBC One North West

The BBC East region started on 1st May 1959 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One East.

BBC One East

BBC One West Midlands

BBC One Yorkshire

The BBC South region started on 5th January 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South.

BBC One South

The BBC North East & Cumbria region started in 1959 (tbc) as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One North East & Cumbria.

BBC One North East & Cumbria

The BBC West region started on 1st September 1957 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One West.

BBC One West

The BBC South West region started on 20th April 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South West.

BBC One South West

Formerly part of a wider BBC One South East region that included London and part of the South region. Separated from BBC One London 2001-09-03 following reorganisation of the South East region.

BBC One South East

BBC One Yorks & Lincs

BBC One region covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

BBC One East Midlands

BBC One Oxfordshire

BBC One Channel Islands

BBC One Cambridgeshire

BBC One London

London

Simulcast of network BBC One in high definition. From 03/11/2010

BBC One HD

Simulcast of BBC One Northern Ireland in high definition. From 24/10/2012

BBC One Northern Ireland HD

Simulcast of BBC One Wales in high definition. From 29/01/2013

BBC One Wales HD

BBC One Scotland

Scotland

Simulcast of BBC One Scotland in high definition. From 14/01/2013

BBC One Scotland HD

BBC Two Scotland

BBC Two Northern Ireland

Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

BBC Two Wales

BBC Two England

England

Simulcast of network BBC Two in high definition.

BBC Two HD

BBC Three

BBC Three HD

Aysha Rafaele

Nick Poyntz

Life and Death Row: In Cold Blood

In Cold Blood

BBC Three - Life and Death Row, In Cold Blood

Former US Marine John Ramirez has seven days left on death row to fight his execution.

A former US Marine, seven days from execution, meets the son he fathered on the run, giving him a will to live. His murder victim’s boys recall the impact of having their dad brutally killed.

On February 2 2017, John Henry Ramirez (32) is scheduled for execution by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas.

Convicted of committing capital murder in 2004, he was sentenced to death in 2008 for a robbery that netted him and his two female accomplices, lovers Angela Rodriguez and Christina Chavez, a grand total of $1.25.

His victim Pablo Castro, a Mexican immigrant convenience store worker with young children, was left for dead from fatal stab wounds as the former US Marine went on the run to Mexico, becoming one of America’s most wanted.

Protected by a Mexican cartel for four years, Ramirez was eventually caught in an FBI sting on the US border four years later.

His capture ended years of torment for Pablo Castro’s traumatised children. Pablo’s youngest boy, Fernando, was 11 when he was brutally murdered. Taken to the scene of the crime, Fernando recounts how seeing his father's body, soaked in blood, had a lasting impact on his life and how he’s taken a painstaking path to overcome his phobia of blood to become a paramedic and save people like his father, who are the victims of violent crime. 

His older brother Aaron, a mixed martial arts fighter, tells of his hurt, rape and attempted suicide after losing his estranged father and his subsequent hate for his dad’s killer. Both want retribution and execution for their father’s killer now that an execution date has finally been set.

When John Henry Ramirez’ trial commenced in December 2008, his accomplices Christina Chavez and Angela Rodriguez had already been sentenced to 25 years and life respectively for their parts in the robbery and murder. All three were high on a cocktail of anti-depressant drugs, including Xanax, vodka and marijuana. The evidence against Ramirez was considered overwhelming: witness testimony and DNA from blood that matched both him, and his victim, Castro. The guilty phase of the trial was over quickly; Ramirez was found guilty. 

It was the punishment phase of the trial where there was controversy: Ramirez instructed his lawyers not to put on a mitigation defense against the death penalty. They obeyed their clients’ orders and did not mount a mitigation case for him. Ramirez claimed that he partly did not want one because he did not want his childhood and family background dissected in court. 

Instead, he instructed them to recite from the bible: 'For I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me. Amen' (Psalm 51, verse 3).

The jury came back with a unanimous sentence of death.

Eight years later on death row, John Henry Ramirez, knowing the date of his death, reaches out to Izzy, the 11-year-old son he fathered with girlfriend Becky while he was a fugitive in Mexico. His son, whom he hadn’t seen since the day of his capture 8 years ago, is now the same age as Fernando Castro was when Ramirez stabbed his father Pablo to death. The hope of buying more time to bond with his son gives the condemned man the will to fight for his life on death row.

But he only has seven days left on earth. Barring a miracle, he will die.

Until now, John Henry Ramirez and Pablo Castro’s sons have never told their sides of this death row story, not even to the police.

This Life and Death Row, In Cold Blood, is not only about a brutal murder and Texas law. It’s about family, childhood and surviving the death of a father. 

A multi-platform service for 16-34s, featuring comedy, entertainment and factual content.

The BBC’s multi-platform service for 16 to 34s, innovating with breakthrough comedy, stand-out entertainment, brave documentary and intellectual factual content.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Life and Death Row

In Cold Blood

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC One Wales

About BBC One