BOISE -- In two weeks, condemned killer Paul Ezra Rhoades is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection. He is sentenced to death for the murders of two eastern Idaho women. He was also sentenced to life for a third killing.
KTVB spoke with another death row inmate, Tim Dunlap, to get his perspective on Rhoades and the execution. Dunlap is on death row in Idaho for the murder of an eastern Idaho bank teller, and he is also sentenced to death in Ohio for killing his girlfriend with a crossbow.
Death row feeling more tense
With a death warrant out for Rhoades, Dunlap says death row feels more tense. He says the execution date being set makes some feel like their dates could be getting closer.
The feel of death row is, it's going to lead to anybody who pled not guilty being executed, you know? Dunlap said.
Dunlap has been on death row for nearly two decades with Rhoades. Both were on death row when the last execution took place in 1994.
[Rhoades] goes to church all the time. Not anymore because he's on lockdown status now. But used to talk all the time when he was down there at church, Dunlap said.
Fellow death row inmate hopes for Rhoades' clemency
Dunlap wants lawmakers to reconsider the death penalty in Idaho, possibly changing the fate of the 15 people with current death sentences.
I do think what they ought to do is sit down and have a big talk, the first of the year in the legislature about repealing the death penalty in Idaho, Dunlap said.
Dunlap personally believes the execution will go forward as planned on November 18th, but he hopes there is a change.
I do not understand why this clemency board won't step in and do something about him being executed, Dunlap said. He's one of these people that frightens people when you see him, and you want to go against him and say, well he needs to be executed. That's a mean looking guy right there, but if people knew him, they'd change their mind and they'd say well, so long as he says he's sorry, maybe Governor Otter will give him clemency.
Rhoades: 'Three people are dead because of me'
Rhoades is petitioning the Commission of Pardons and Parole, hoping he'll get life without parole, instead of death.
Here's part of what he says in that petition: Three people are dead because of me. I needlessly caused their deaths. My actions, my crimes, my responsibility. I cannot erase their loss and the pain they suffered because of my crimes. Nor can I take away the pain endured by each of their family members.
Rhoades also explained what he's trying to do to express his guilt and remorse: I try to make amends by helping others move from anger toward reconciliation. Any inmate who expresses anger, whether at a guard, another inmate, or someone on the outside, I try to help.
Read Rhoades' entire petition by clicking here.
Rhoades still hoping court stops execution
This week, Rhoades filed an amended complaint in federal court asking his execution be stopped. He says Idaho's method of lethal injection, which involves three drugs, is cruel and unusual punishment. Click here to read hismost recent complaint.
Dunlap is working on his own case, recently asking the Supreme Court in Ohio to set an execution date there. He asked Ohio to execute him, but the court denied his request last month. He believes he has about two years left of appeals in Idaho. Read Dunlap's latest filing by clicking here.
