Killing Death Row

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BBC Radio 4 LW

Gangster

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Factual: Crime & Justice: True Crime

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The boxer turned bouncer who was gunned down on Tyneside in 1993

Viv Graham ran a pub and club protection empire which spanned Newcastle and beyond.

How did he build his fearsome reputation, and what led to his brutal, unsolved murder?

A new series of Gangster tells the story of Viv Graham, a man who ran a protection empire which spanned Newcastle and beyond.

Viv Graham, a 17-stone man mountain, a man feared and revered in equal measure, came to dominate Tyneside’s nightlife through brutal and uncompromising violence.

His murder, in an organised hit on New Year’s Eve 1993, sparked recriminations and repercussions which echo to this day. It remains one of the country’s most notorious unsolved murders.

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Gangster: Killing Death Row: Killing Death Row: 4. Who Cares if it Hurts?

Killing Death Row: 4. Who Cares if it Hurts?

BBC Radio 5 Live - Gangster, Killing Death Row, Killing Death Row: 4. Who Cares if it Hurts?

How pain can be a problem for the US death penalty.

How proof of pain in lethal injection might make it vulnerable to a legal challenge as unconstitutional.

If a lethal injection death is considered to be painful, that could make it vulnerable to a legal challenge as unconstitutional.  What can the death of Corey Johnson tell us about the pain of a lethal injection, and does proof of pain hold sway in any US court, or indeed in the court of public opinion? Livvy Haydock heads out on the road to talk to Texans., and deep into Death Row in the USA. While support for the Death Penalty in the US remains at over 50 per cent, there’s been a steady decline in the number of executions – from the modern era peak of 98 in 1999 to just 20 in 2023 so far. Only a handful of states actually carry out the killings. It’s even become more difficult for executioners to get hold of the drugs used in lethal injections, which is what led Livvy Haydock to a surreal story about a man in West London, who was supplying these drugs to state penitentiaries in the US, and on to the macabre world of Death Row – and the people who live, work, and die on it. 
Whether it’s the hunt for new lethal injection supplies, or the tip of the glasses that mark an executioner’s signal, Livvy goes right behind the scenes into the chamber itself to examine the pressures on the system that have left just 5 US states actively carrying out executions this year and around 2,400 Death Row prisoners in limbo.  We’ll hear from an inmate waiting to die, and one saved at the last moment. We’ll chat to the wardens who make it happen, and the campaigners who want to stop it. And throughout, we’ll discover the possible future for Death Row in the only western democracy still carrying out capital punishment.

New episodes released weekly. If you’re in the UK, listen to Gangster Presents… Killing Death Row first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/40W5Chz

Presenter: Livvy Haydock 
Series producer: Anna Meisel 
Sounds design and mix: Richard Hannaford 
Editor: Clare Fordham 
Production coordinator: Janet Staples

Gangster: Killing Death Row

BBC Radio 4

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Could the US death penalty ever die out? Livvy Haydock investigates.

Could the US death penalty ever die out? A surreal story about a man in Acton, London, who supplied the USA with lethal drugs tips Livvy Haydock into the macabre world of Death Row

Join Livvy Haydock as she takes us deep into Death Row in the USA. While support for the Death Penalty in the US remains at over 50 per cent, there's been a steady decline in the number of executions - from the modern era peak of 98 in 1999 to just 20 in 2023 so far. Only a handful of states actually carry out the killings. It's even become more difficult for executioners to get hold of the drugs used in lethal injections, which is what led Livvy Haydock to a surreal story about a man in Acton, West London, who was supplying these lethal drugs to state penitentiaries in the US, and on to the macabre world of Death Row - and the people who live, work, and die on it. 
 
Whether it's the bizarre hunt for new lethal injection supplies, or the tip of the glasses that mark an executioner's signal, Livvy goes right behind the scenes into the chamber itself to examine the pressures on the system that have left just five US states actively carrying out executions this year and around 2,400 Death Row prisoners in limbo. We hear from an inmate waiting to die, and one saved at the last moment. We chat to the wardens who make it happen, and the campaigners who want to stop it. And throughout it all, we discover the possible future for Death Row in the only western democracy still carrying out capital punishment.

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