Death Row killer's Strictly Come Dancing comment leaves Dan Walker terrified

Edinburgh Live

07-05-2025

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Dan Walker has confessed to feeling a sense of "warming" towards a double killer during the production of his new documentary, despite being unnerved when the convict brought up Strictly Come Dancing.
The broadcaster ventured to Texas to delve into the topic of capital punishment for his Channel 5 programme Dead Man Walking: Dan Walker on Death Row. It was in this context that he came face-to-face with the notorious Charles Thompson.
Dan, who is well-known for his 13-year tenure on BBC Breakfast and his participation in Strictly in 2021, expressed differing emotions about Thompson following their conversation – while also recognising the potential for being manipulated by him.
Thompson was convicted for the shooting deaths of his former girlfriend Dennise Hayslip, 39, and her partner Darrren Cain, 30, in 1998. He later made headlines for a daring prison break in 2005 after receiving a death sentence, only to be recaptured and returned to incarceration.
During their meeting at The Allan B. Polunksy Unit in West Livingston, Texas, Thompson spoke to Dan through a phone and a protective screen, remarking: "It's nice to finally meet you. I have heard so much about you."
Caught off guard, Dan probed further, prompting Thompson to elaborate and he said: "Yeah, your reputation precedes you sir."
When asked if that was positive, the inmate responded: "It's a good thing. I've even heard about Dancing with the Stars (the US equivalent of Strictly Come Dancing) from my mates in England."
In a surprising moment, Dan was taken aback when he said: "I didn't expect to turn up and for you to know all about me, Charles."
However, Thompson revealed that he always does his "homework" and had spoken to "excited" penpals in England who knew about Dan. The TV man later reflected and said it was "a bit disconcerting that Charles knows all about me."
Continuing the conversation, Thompson expressed frustration over his prison conditions, mainly spending his days in solitary confinement with only four hours a week outside his cell.
(Image: BBC)
He bitterly remarked: "I am sure people have pets that get out of their cage more than that."
Then, Thompson looked back on the fateful day he became a killer, classifying it as a "crime of passion" stemming from "two men fighting over a woman".
Declaring it the darkest chapter of his life, he lamented: "It was the worst day of my life. I regret it. I wish I could take it back. When this case happened 27 years ago, I was 27, almost 28, I was an alcoholic, I was strung out on cocaine, using hard drugs. I was still very immature for 27. I had a lot of anger issues and I was wild; I was out of control."
His heinous act left Dennise's only child, Wade, without a mother at just 13-years-old.
When pondered on what he would tell her now, Thompson conveyed to Dan: "I hope that she can forgive me for what happened - and I will see her again. And I like to believe that I have the chance at going to heaven too.
"I feel for the families, I feel for her son, I asked him to forgive me and he said he thinks the jury got the sentence right and he is waiting for it to be carried out so I had no choice but to accept that and some people can never move past it.
"And that's all I wanted for him - for him to be able to move past this. The biggest false thing that the criminal justice system sells people is that the death penalty will bring closure - it doesn't."
In the opening of the documentary, Dan shared that he began his investigation in response to calls in the UK for the reintroduction of the death penalty.
Such calls emerged following the sentences handed down to Axel Rudakubana, who was given a 52-year prison term for the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, Bebe King, and Elsie Dot Stancombe in Southport.
Dan journeyed to Texas, known as the execution epicentre of the US, to delve deeper into the topic, where the documentary captured his visit to Huntsville, home to the nation's busiest death chamber.
The last execution in the UK took place in 1964, while since then, America has seen 1600 people die by this means. Just after his first interaction with a death row prisoner, Dan turned to the camera to remark: "He is gone. Back to solitary. That wasn't what I expected it to be.
"It is hard not to feel conflicted after meeting Charles. There is part of me that warmed to him. Is he truly sorry for his crime? It is also hard not to wonder if I was being manipulated by him."
In a bid for further understanding, he subsequently met with the victim's son, Wade. When questioned if his mother's killer grasped the enormity of his actions and their impact on him, Wade, who had given evidence in court at the tender age of 14, replied: "I don't know. I don't get the impression that he did, or does."
Dead Man Walking: Dan Walker on Death Row will air on Channel 5 on May 7 from 9pm - 10.30pm