Death Row Diaries

Robert Lee Massie was a pestering little guy who grew up on a chain gang in the South. He had a rough childhood, but that doesn't explain his penchant for robbing mom-and-pop shops and his gun going off each time he did so. He was sentenced to death three separate times. While in prison he began working on a legal strategy that nobody could really understand, except his demented self. He was executed in March of 2001, after bothering the hell out of an awful lot of people.

Darrell Keith Richs was convicted of murdering Annette Fay Edwards, Patricia Ann Moore, Linda Diane Slavik, and Annette Lynn Selix, although his number of victims was most certainly greater. He would smash his victims' heads in with rocks, and was an especially putrid individual, even by Death Row standards. While in prison, he began calling himself Young Elk and embracing his Native American heritage, although he never identified as Native American prior to his incarceration. He was executed by lethal injection in San Quentin State Prison in March of 2000. His last words were "Peace." He was missed by nobody.

Keith Daniel Williams and his drinking buddy murdered three innocent people named Miguel Vargas, Salvador Vargas, and Lourdes Meza after Williams attempted to purchase a car with a stolen check. Somehow Keith Williams was found not guilty of a rape that occurred in the incident, although he was likely guilty of that too. While in prison he befriended a fellow murderer and rapist and the two of them were inseparable, that is, until Williams was executed by lethal injection in San Quentin Prison in May of 1996. None of his fellow convicts much cared when he was put to death.

Manuel Babbitt was a veteran of the Vietnam War. He wasn't exactly right before taking two tours of duty which included fighting in the Battle of Khe Sahn, but when he got back to America things took a turn for the worse. Family members noticed he was suffering psychologically and soon he was arrested for the bizarre murder of an elderly woman named Leah Schendel. He was executed the day after his fiftieth birthday at San Quinten State Prison by lethal injection, in front of Leah's loved ones, among others.

Jaturun Siripongs moved to the United States from Thailand, after working as a government informant. Then he murdered two innocent people and was busted using one of their credit cards to buy a television. He was executed in February of 1999 in San Quentin State Prison, despite many calls to spare his life. Matt Ralston talks to William Noguera about the case, and his impression of Jaturun "Jay" Siripongs while the two served time together.

Thomas Martin Thompson, better known as Tommy Thompson, was executed in San Quentin State Prison on a muggy July evening in 1988. He was convicted of the rape and murder of Ginger Fleischli, an outgoing and kindhearted woman, after a night of drinking and smoking hashish. Although we will never know for certain what Thompson's role was in her death, it seems at least possible that he was innocent of these crimes. More likely, his roommate, Fleischli's ex-boyfriend, was responsible for the attack. Although Thompson could have been involved, he maintained his innocence until he was put to death. Host Matt Ralston talks to his co-host William Noguera, who knew Thompson, having served time with him on Death Row, where he still resides.

In Part II of their discussion on William Bonin, Matt and Bill break down his last day on earth, although he has been seen roaming the prison halls, after he was executed.

William Bonin was known as the Freeway Killer, because he would dump his victims from his van on the sides of highways. This man was truly a monster, and even those who don't support the death penalty didn't especially mind when he was executed. That fateful day was February 23, 1996. He was given a lethal injection on San Quentin Prison's Death Row. Bill discusses his feelings on serial killers like this with co-host Matt Ralston.

David Edwin Mason killed the elderly, often robbing them of paltry amounts of money. He also killed his elderly male lover who purposefully gave him a sexually transmitted disease. Mason was suicidal from a young age, probably because he was physically abused by his religious fundamentalist parents, and once tried to kill himself by self-immolation. He was executed by gas in San Quentin State Prison in January of 1994. Bill tells Matt about his observations of David Mason, having served on death row with for several years.

Robert Alton Harris was executed on San Quentin Prison's death row on April 21, 1992. He killed two teenage boys named John Mayeski and Michael Baker, apparently so he could steal their car to rob a bank. He was arrested almost immediately, as he was an incompetent buffoon whose final words were a quote from a Bill and Ted movie. Matt and Bill try to understand what made this guy tick, if anything. His case made national headlines as he was the first person executed in California in many years, and because he was seemingly always smiling, and unremorseful for his crimes.