Meet the killers of Netflixs horrifying true crime series I Am A Killer
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Netflix series I Am A Killer may have been out for a while, but its suddenly exploded back into the public eye with viewers more horrified by the confessions than ever.
From why they are on death row to how teen killers on a satanic rampage, the blunt discussions will give you chills.
With a second season on its way in October, the true crime tale from the killers perspective is an intimate look at what drives people to murder – and in some states, what murder even means.
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The docu-series gives what creators call a fascinating and in-depth insight into the stories of prisoners on death row in America, awaiting their fate.
The synopsis continues: Showing that there are multiple sides to every story, each one-hour episode profiles 10 prisoners convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death.
The series features never before seen footage with extraordinary access to prisons across America. Each convicted prisoner recounts the events that led up to their crime and, shockingly, the event itself.
Here are the 10 men who have agreed to take part in the series, and what they did to end up behind bars.
James Robertson
CRIME: Murder of cellmate Frank Hart
SENTENCE: Death
James Robertson has been in and out of prison his whole life, starting with aggravated assault and burglary at 16 years old.
Due to stabbings and assaults committed within the prison walls, he later accrued up to 100 years of jail time, and was constantly in solitary confinement.
He landed on death row after killing cellmate Frank Hart in 2008 – before demanding execution as his punishment.
It took him three years to get his wish, mainly because that meant he would get out of solitary. Its suggested that was why he decided to kill Hart.
Death row allows larger cells and more yard time in Florida.
Kenneth Foster
CRIME: Getaway driver for a murder
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SENTENCE: Death (later committed to life)
Michael LaHood was shot and killed by Mauricio Brown in the middle of his parents driveway back in 1996.
Kenneth Foster drove the getaway car for Brown following the incident.
He was sentenced to death for his involvement in the crime, but just six hours before execution, he was committed to life.
Brown died in 2006 by lethal injection.
Justin Dickens
CRIME: Robbery/Homicide
SENTENCE: Death
Justin Dickens was 17 years told when he received the death penalty for a robbery/homicide, capital murder.
He claims he was coerced into a robbery by Dallas Moore, a drug dealer and addict he had stolen cocaine off of.
As payment for the drugs and to stop himself getting killed, he agreed to rob a jewellery store at gunpoint.
When schoolteacher Allen Carter tried to fight him, they got in a fight when the gun went off, through Carters hand and into his head.
Miguel Angel Martinez
CRIME: Triple Murder and robbery
SENTENCE: Death (later committed to life)
Miguel Angel Martinez became the youngest person on Texas death row for a triple homicide police believe was Satanic in nature.
He was implicated alongside Manuel Milo Flores and Miguel Venegas – but was the only one sentenced to death in 1991.
While breaking into the home of Baptist minister James Smiley, Venegas went on an axe rampage killing the three people in the house, convinced in a drug-fuelled rage he was the son of the devil.
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Smiley was entertaining two guests at his house and were also killed in the massacre – 20-year-old Ruben Martinez and 14-year-old Daniel Duenez.
Martinez admits to stabbing one of the victims, before throwing up, but got the wore punishment as the eldest of the group at 17.
Miguel Venegas
CRIME: Triple Murder and robbery
SENTENCE: 41 years in prison
Venegas is currently serving 41 years in prison, and continues to defend the killings, claiming Smiley was a pedophile.
There is nothing to support these claims and have been debunked by those that knew him as a sick lie.
During the attack, Venegas walked into each room, stabbing the victims in the beds they were sleeping in.
Smiley and one man were in the bedrooms, while a third was on the sofa.
He dodged death row as he was only 16 at the time of the murders.
Charles Thompson
CRIME: Double Homicide
SENTENCE: Death Row
Thompson shot ex-girlfriend Dennise Hayslip and her new boyfriend Darren Cain, in 1998.
He was charged with manslaughter, and then murder, after Hayslip was killed due to a hospital error.
After being shot in the jaw, Hayslip was given a naso-tracheal intubation to help her breath – but they put the tube into her esophagus instead of her trachea, eventually leaving her brain dead.
As a result, he is not contesting his sentence saying theres insufficient evidence for capital murder because he did not
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He later escaped from prison in 2005 after being sentenced to death, but was caught and brought back to prison.
David Lee Lewis
CRIME: Robbery-Homicide
SENTENCE: Death
David Lee Lewis shot and killed 74-year-old Myrtle Ruby after she found him robbing her home in 1987.
However, he has a borderline IQ of between 69 to 85, with US Federal law stating that those with an IQ of 70 or under not being executed.
His defence is now arguing that in some testing method he grades below the line, and as therefore unable to have intent to kill.
In his words, he didnt know who he was killing, and shot when he was startled by someones return while high.
Deandra Buchanan
CRIME: Triple Homicide
SENTENCE: Death (later committed to life sentence)
In November 2000, Buchanan shot and killed his stepfather, aunt and his girlfriend during a celebration of his aunts new home.
He maintains that he was in a paranoid rage induced by drugs, believing that his family was plotting against him, with intent to kill or have him jailed.
His girlfriend, Angela Brown, was holding their five-month-old baby when he shot her in the neck. They also had another child together.
Buchanan has since appealed his death penalty sentence, and he was re-sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.