Latest news with #DeadManWalking:DanWalkeronDeathRow
Edinburgh Live
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Live
Death Row killer's Strictly Come Dancing comment leaves Dan Walker terrified
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info 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
Daily Mirror
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Death Row killer leaves Dan Walker terrified with chilling Strictly Come Dancing comment
Former BBC Breakfast host Dan Walker appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2021 where he finsihed fifth - but it was not something he expected to be brought up when meeting a Death Row inmate Dan Walker admitted to 'warming' to a double killer while filming for his latest documentary – despite being spooked when he mentioned Strictly Come Dancing. The renowned newsreader travelled to Texas to learn more about capital punishment for his Channel 5 show Dead Man Walking: Dan Walker on Death Row. And it was here where he sat face to face with the infamous Charles Thompson. Television presenter Dan, who spent 13 years on BBC Breakfast and starred in Strictly in 2021, said he had mixed feelings about the killer after the interview – but acknowledged he could have been manipulated. Thompson shot his ex-girlfriend Dennise Hayslip, 39, and her boyfriend Darrren Cain, 30, in 1998 before escaping prison in 2005 after being sentenced to die - before he was eventually caught and returned to prison. Sitting opposite Dan in The Allan B. Polunksy Unit in West Livingston, Texas, the killer said through a phone and a screen: 'It's nice to finally meet you. I have heard so much about you.' Dan, clearly surprised, questioned this before Thompson said: 'Yeah, your reputation precedes you sir.' Asked if this was a good thing, the killer said: 'It's a good thing. I've even heard about Dancing with the Stars (the US version of Strictly Come Dancing) from my mates in England.' Dan, taken aback, said: 'I didn't expect to turn up and for you to know all about me, Charles.' But Thompson said he always did his 'homework' and spoke to "excited" penpals in England about him. Reflecting on it, Dan said it was a 'bit disconcerting that Charles knows all about me'. Thompson went on to complain that he spent most of his days in solitary confinement and that he gets just four hours a week outside of his cell. He fumed: 'I am sure people have pets that get out of their cage more than that.' The criminal then reflected on the day he became a killer, describing it as a 'crime of passion' and 'two men fighting over a woman'. 'It was the worst day of my life,' he said. '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.' Killing his former partner, Dennise, meant she left behind her only child, Wade, who was just 13 at the time. And asked what he would say to her now, Thompson told 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.' Dan explained at the start of the documentary that he undertook the investigation after calls were made in the UK to bring back the death penalty. This was after Axel Rudakubana was jailed for 52 years for the murder of three girls, Alice da Silva Aguiar, Bebe King and Elsie Dot Stancombe in Southport. Dan went to Texas, the execution capital of America, to find out more, and the documentary saw him go to Huntsville, the country's busiest death chamber. The last execution in the UK happened in 1964 - and since then 1600 have been killed by this method in America. And immediately after speaking to a death row inmate for the first time, Dan turned to the camera and said: 'He is gone. Back to solitary. That wasn't what I expected it to be.' He later added: '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.' Trying to get more clarity, he then visited the victim's son, Wade, who was asked whether his mum's killer understood the gravity of what he did and what he had taken from him. Responding, Wade, who testified in court when he was just 14, said: 'I don't know. I don't get the impression that he did, or does.'
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Dan Walker calls death row documentary Dead Man Walking 'most emotional show I've made'
The broadcaster found his Christian faith challenged in a Channel 5 exploration of the US capital punishment system. Watch: Dan Walker opens up on chilling experience of death row documentary What did you miss? Dan Walker has confessed his death row documentary was "the most emotional programme I've ever made". The newsreader and broadcaster travelled to the US to meet those living and working on death row for Channel 5 film Dead Man Walking: Dan Walker on Death Row, where he explores the US capital punishment system. The documentary is due to air tonight, Wednesday 7 May. Walker, who often speaks about his Christian faith, told Loose Women on Wednesday that he had found the trip a harrowing experience, as well as opening up on some chilling moments he experienced in the prison. What, how, and why? The Channel 5 broadcaster called his death row documentary 'the most emotional programme I've ever worked on'. (ITV screengrab) Despite his own religious views, Walker was quick to point out to Loose Women that his Channel 5 documentary Dead Man Walking: Dan Walker on Death Row was neither pro nor anti capital punishment. ADVERTISEMENT He said he was interested to find out more about the US legal system and admitted he was particularly struck by the idea that there could be hundreds of prisoners awaiting a death sentence who had been wrongly convicted. Asked for his own opinion on the system after filming the documentary, he said: "I don't know what the answer is. But what I will say is, it's the most emotional programme I've ever worked on. Sometimes I felt scared, I felt upset, I felt angry, I felt distressed and the weight of that decision (of ending someone's life), that is a huge decision to carry around for the rest of your life." Read more: Dan Walker visited the former execution chamber at Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. (Channel 5) Walker added that he had had a confronting chat with his own family before flying out to the US for filming. ADVERTISEMENT "I always struggle with the finality and the certainty of saying it's right to put somebody to death," he said. "I had a conversation with my kids before I went out and my 15-year-old daughter said, 'hold on a minute, you tell everybody that it's wrong to kill somebody and then you say the punishment for killing somebody is to be killed yourself. How does that add up?'" The broadcaster talked about his chilling visit to the execution chamber. (Channel 5) "I didn't realise how big an impact working in that industry has on the people that do it," he continued as he recalled meeting people whose job it was to tie prisoners to their beds before execution. "You could see the mental scars of that on their face, the way they talked about what they had witnessed. That will live with them forever." Walker added: "From a faith perspective, the thing I found fascinating was that this is about who we are and how we see our fellow men and women and what we think about the sanctity of life. These are really big questions that we all have to think about." Dan Walker's chilling experiences on death row Dan Walker met death row inmate Charles Thompson. (Channel 5) The journalist who took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2021 also recalled the chilling experience of meeting a double murderer for an interview on death row. ADVERTISEMENT He said that he had introduced himself and convict Charles Thompson had told him he knew who Walker was thanks to his penpals in the UK. "I tried not to react and then he said he knew about Strictly, he knew where I'd worked," he said of the uneasy meeting. Walker also spoke about a sobering trip to the room where hangings took place. He said: "I've never been in a room like it. Because you realise how many people have ended their life in that room, there's a weight to it and you can almost feel it when you walk in there for the first time." Dead Man Walking: Dan Walker on Death Row airs on Channel 5 at 9pm tonight (7 May). Loose Women airs on ITV1 at 12:30pm on weekdays.
