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Sophia Donner
This is an I Heart podcast.
Amy Robach
Guaranteed human. If audiobooks are your thing or you've been meaning to listen to more of them, you should check out a podcast called earsay, the Audible and I Heart Audiobook Club, hosted by Cal Penn.
Cal Penn
Each episode spotlights standout audiobooks on Audible across all kinds of genres Sci fi, comedy, romance, thrillers and more with Cal talking to guests who help break down what makes each story worth listening to.
Amy Robach
It's a fun, easy way to discover your next great, great audiobook.
Cal Penn
Check out Earsay on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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TJ Holmes
Hey there folks.
Cal Penn
It is Wednesday, May 20, and over the next two days there are three
TJ Holmes
executions scheduled in the United States, and Kim Kardashian is trying to stop at least one of them with that. Welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ Ropes. Yes, we've had days where they're back to back, but just something that seems
Cal Penn
Like a lot over a couple of days.
TJ Holmes
But. But yeah. Three states have executions on the book starting tonight.
Amy Robach
Yes. And it's been described as the deadliest week for the death penalty in the United States so far this year. We haven't seen three people scheduled to die by lethal injection in a week, let alone in a period of two days. We haven't seen it at all until now.
TJ Holmes
And yes, and we should say, well, how does this happen? Why does this happen?
Cal Penn
It's in three different states. They're not coordinating efforts.
TJ Holmes
They are signing independently death warrants. The governors are. And these dates are scheduled. And they just happen to fall like this. We should mention the three states at least.
Amy Robach
No, no.
TJ Holmes
I guess one of them will come as no surprise. The second one maybe not, but another we don't hear as much from when it comes to executions.
Amy Robach
Yes, Arizona is going to be executing its first inmate of the year. Tennessee is also scheduled to. To have an execution tomorrow morning. And then. Yes, the state of Florida that we're all very, very familiar with now when it comes to executions is also set to execute an inmate in that state.
TJ Holmes
And Arizona, I'm trying to get the numbers right, but it's somewhere around. This is only their sixth or seventh since 2015, so they are not right. Florida had how many last year? Just to give you 19, some context there. Arizona just doesn't do this a whole lot. But when you hear about some of these crimes and some of these criminals, these are some of the most horrific crimes you will hear about. The question then comes up robes and is the case in a couple of these. Is the right guy on death row for those crimes. We'll get into who's trying to get some folks out. Do we want to go in order?
Amy Robach
Yeah, let's go in order.
TJ Holmes
So starting tomorrow, this is another no tonight. Tonight, I should say at least we starting where? In Arizona?
Amy Robach
We're starting in Arizona with Leroy McGill. He has been on death row for a quarter. Quarter of a century. The crime was committed on July 13, 2002. And what he was convicted of doing is horrific. One man died, but another woman was left with burns over 75% of her body. So he doused a couple in gasoline, lit them on fire. Charles Perez died. Nova Banta survived, but my goodness. With some significant injury.
TJ Holmes
And this, this crime. Look, these were folks this was all over. They claim they had accused him of stealing a gun. Is that right? Yes, right on this. Okay.
Amy Robach
Yes.
TJ Holmes
So they. That's what this confrontation, this fight was about. And the way they Describe it, Rose. They were just hanging out, sitting on a couch.
Amy Robach
Yep.
TJ Holmes
And he decides to douse them. Now, you think about that idea, that imagery of just how horrific that could have been for them. But not just that rope. They. This happened.
Cal Penn
They were able to, both of them
TJ Holmes
run out of the house after they caught fire, went outside. Some neighbor saw them put her out at least. But he died later at the hospital. She survived. Again, third degree is how they describe him.
Amy Robach
Yes.
TJ Holmes
Burns over 75 of her body.
Amy Robach
It's horrific. And here when you Hear what Leroy McGill was convicted of doing. Look, I hate to say he didn't just douse them with gasoline and throw a match. No, before. Before all of that took place, he actually took the time to mix the gasoline with Styrofoam. And they said it created what they described as a napalm effect. And that the idea was when he threw this gasoline and Styrofoam mixture that when he. That it would stick to the victims and it would make their deaths more painful. So he did this not just to kill them, but to make it a extremely exceptionally painful death by mixing in the Styrofoam with the gasoline. Have you ever heard of that before?
TJ Holmes
Well, it's this. And this is not a spur of the moment situation. This is some planning, some premeditation, some intent, and not just intent to kill, but intent to make suffer. And this is what they often call aggravated circumstances and whatnot. This is especially heinous as they described. Now, this is one robes death penalty opponents will argue and will continue to sound the alarm about every death penalty case. This ain't a situation, though, where anyone is saying, hey, we need to test this or test that, or maybe it wasn't him.
Amy Robach
You have a survivor.
TJ Holmes
This is, this is a very different situation to the point he didn't even ask for clemency. He. This is one of these rare cases where he didn't go through all the appeals and all of the options he had. So this looks like one this evening is going to go through and not much is going to step in and stop this.
Amy Robach
That's right. And I just thought this was the whole case. The whole murder is chilling, but reportedly, again, because Nova Banta lived to testify against him. She lived to be able to tell the story about what happened to her and to Charles Perez. But she claimed before he lit the match, he said out loud that. He said, you shouldn't talk about people behind their backs. That's he was that angry that they were saying that he stole a gun. That he went to these lengths to make them go away, it's. It just blows the mind. But look, his attorneys. He's fighting, he has been fighting to have his death sentence commuted, but not because he's innocent and not because it wasn't me. His attorneys have argued there were trial errors by his defense attorneys at the time. This is a very standard appeal that defense attorneys made. He has been turned down by every single court. So yes, by all accounts, this is going forward tonight in the state of Arizona.
TJ Holmes
What time is his. It's in Florence. I'm not sure where that is in Arizona.
Amy Robach
I am.
TJ Holmes
What time is his.
Amy Robach
I am unclear on the time, but it is this evening and by the time it's east coast, it'll be later this evening. But we can. Yes.
TJ Holmes
Yeah. And again, this is. This ain't that in terms of people fighting trying to prove his innocence. It even took the jury only an hour of deliberations when they convicted him the first time around. So Leroy McGill, that starts that. 63 year old Leroy McGill with us this evening in Arizona. Now the other we turn to now here rogues. And this is a pretty horrific crime as well. But this one is scheduled for tomorrow morning in Tennessee. This is Tony Carruthers. Now the description of this crime is absolutely horrific.
Cal Penn
But an argument is being made now
TJ Holmes
that there's possibly some evidence out there
Cal Penn
that could clear the guy who's about
TJ Holmes
to be executed tomorrow morning for it.
Cal Penn
People are speaking up.
TJ Holmes
And this is the one I was mentioning about Kim Kardashian.
Amy Robach
Yeah, Kim Kardashian. The ACLU are all pointing to fingerprints that were found around the scene that aren't Tony Carruthers fingerprints. And so they are saying there is no actual physical forensic evidence that links Tony Carruthers to these murders. And should we say what the cr. The murders are just. I have. Every time I read these, you read about the gasoline mixed with styrofoam. That was a first. This one I. This is most people's worst nightmare, to be buried alive.
TJ Holmes
Yeah. This involved kidnapping, torture and bearing folks alive. What are we talking about here? This is a triple homicide and he's accused of killing a mom, her son and a friend. Now the, the son was how old was 21 or something. 21 adult males. But he's accused of killing three people apparently all over something having to do with drugs. But, but robes this was. And he wasn't the only one convicted for this, we should note.
Amy Robach
Yes. So this was in the Memphis area and according to court records, this was the plan, Tony Carruthers, along with James Montgomery, that was the cohort. This was their plan to take over the drug trade basically in their neighborhood. And they wanted to show people in the neighborhood how ruthless they were willing to be. So they targeted, kidnapped this 21 year old drug dealer. His name was Marcelo Sanderson, his mother, and they describe her as an innocent woman who had nothing to do with any of this. 43 year old Deloitte Anderson. And then Marcelo's 17 year old friend, Frederick Trucker. Now, according to court records, Tony Carruthers, along with James Montgomery, shot the two men, rolled them into a grave that had already been dug for a planned funeral the next day, I believe. But then this is unbelievable. They put the mom on top alive and then buried all three and hid the bodies, the funeral and went on. And the bodies were underneath, hidden, undetected. So if the brother of one of the suspects hadn't called police, they would never have known to look. He showed them where the grave was and where those bodies had been buried. But that woman, the mother, she died by asphyxiation. She was absolutely alive when he was, when she was buried.
TJ Holmes
So, so when you hear that, you would go, well, that person, even if you're not an advocate of the death penalty, you hear somebody as guilty of that, you would go, okay, I guess
Amy Robach
this, I get it.
TJ Holmes
This is who the death penalty is for. Fine. However, there are questions. Now we need to talk about Mr. Montgomery, who was also convicted.
Amy Robach
Correct.
TJ Holmes
Who was actually convicted and is currently walking free.
Amy Robach
Yes. So his cohort, James Montgomery was convicted and sentenced to death as well. But he was freed more than 10 years ago in 2015 because an appeals court ruled he should have been given a separate trial from Carruthers. They were tried together and because of that he was set free, literally is walking the streets right now.
TJ Holmes
So we should make clear this is another part of why folks are saying Carruthers should not be executed. He represented himself at trial. Now that sounds nuts. In a capital case, in a death penalty case, how and why would you allow someone to represent himself? Well, apparently, Robes, I think it's at least six or seven defense attorneys he was assigned. He couldn't keep a good relationship with
Cal Penn
him and he went through that many.
TJ Holmes
And the judge said, nope, not going to give you another. Finally at the end. So I'm not sure how much of his trial he represented himself, but. But he didn't have a fair. Obviously he didn't do with the death penal. You can't represent yourself. So that is another Argument they're making for why he shouldn't be executed tonight.
Sophia Donner
Correct.
TJ Holmes
This evidence. I mean, there's another one of those things. Robes, I always say, oh, why not take another beat? If he's been on death row this many years, then give us a week to do some testing. H. I don't know why you can argue with that.
Amy Robach
And that's what the ACLU and Kim Kardashian had been pleading with the governor to allow. To allow some time to. To really dig into these fingerprints and to just ensure that they have the right guy, that there isn't another killer out there.
TJ Holmes
Right. Even if they get the prince back Robes, and even if they match somebody else, it doesn't exonerate and doesn't throw out. K. It maybe starts a new process. What about the families now having to go through this again? They finally made it to this day and you're talking about this is going to be held up. The. The governor there at least said he is not going to step in where things are right now. Robes legally and how many options he has in a court right now. We know how the Supreme Court usually is. So not expecting much there. Maybe. So he's running out of options. And this is not tomorrow night. This is tomorrow morning.
Amy Robach
Morning.
TJ Holmes
Yeah.
Amy Robach
And the father of one of the victims, by the way, we always want to acknowledge where they are on this. He actually just told a Memphis station, I forgive him for killing my son and may God have mercy on his soul for. But it's time that he meets his maker. So he wants him. He wants this execution to go forward. And look, we heard from the governor of Tennessee yesterday. He made an official announcement and he said he took time. He said, after deliberate consideration, and he says he thoroughly reviewed the case. He said, I will not stop this execution.
TJ Holmes
And that's certainly something we typically hear from governors. I was about to say Southern governors. That's where most of the executions are taking place. But, yeah, can't imagine him intervening. But it's 10:10 or 10:30 tomorrow morning in Tennessee. So that would be what, 11, 11:30 our time here on the East Coast. And again, they. It seems. I don't know why I think executions need to happen at night, but Tennessee is. They are. They do theirs in the morning to give themselves time for the death warrant in case something goes wrong, case the drug cocktail isn't right, whatever it may be. So tomorrow morning, that's happening.
Amy Robach
All right. And when we come back, we're going to tell you about the third and final execution of the week and this one in a state who knows exactly what they're doing and how to do it. They're already racking up some significant numbers for this year in their executions, but Richard Knight, set to die tomorrow by lethal injection, will tell you all about his case when we come back. If you're always on the lookout for a great audiobook or just want help figuring out what to listen to next, there's a podcast you should know about.
Cal Penn
It's called Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club.
Amy Robach
Hosted by Cal Penn, each episode takes a closer look at some of the most talked about new audiobooks on Audible, spanning a wide range of genres, from sci fi and literary fiction to rom coms, thrillers and comedy.
Cal Penn
Kyle is joined by guests who dig into what these stories are about, what makes them stand out as audiobooks, and why they're connecting with listeners right now.
Amy Robach
If you're looking for your next listen, this is a great place to start.
Cal Penn
Listen to Hearsay, The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Amy Robach
Welcome back everybody to this episode of Amy and tj. Three executions in three states in a matter of two days. And tomorrow evening will be the third execution of the week. And it happens in a state that is very, very used to making these things happen. I mean they follow through. There have been a couple that we've been covering where we've had some last minute stays, but it doesn't look like this one is going to fall in that category. This is.
TJ Holmes
I didn't realize how many baby killers there are out there room. Some of these cases we've gone through a mother and a six year old or this month old. This is another one of those where it's just. It boggles the mind how anybody is capable of this.
Amy Robach
Why you have to kill a child who cannot remember what happened, can't identify you, doesn't make any sense other than your evil. There's no other way around it. But Richard Knight was convicted in the 2000 stabbing deaths of a pregnant woman and her four year old daughter. It really doesn't get much more vile than that. And he has been sitting on death row once again for a quarter of
TJ Holmes
a century and he is still, I do that math. He's only 47 now. Just a life. I mean I'm 48 and this guy has been in prison half of his.
Amy Robach
More than half of his life life.
TJ Holmes
And you just.
Cal Penn
I do.
TJ Holmes
I stop sometimes and think about the direction people's lives go. This guy and I are about the same age. What, what was happening to me right at 23 years old versus what he was doing at 23 years old. And where people end up, it just seems so young. It stood out to me.
Amy Robach
And. And what? This is over. So allegedly, or I shouldn't say allegedly, he was convicted. So basically he was staying in the home of his cousin's girlfriend, if that makes any sense. So she had had enough and she said, you're out of here. I'm kicking you out. You're leaving. I want you out of my home. And so he went on then to murder Odessia Stevens. She was six weeks pregnant at the time of her murder and her four year old daughter Hesia. And this again all because she told him he had to find another place to live. And boy, was he enraged because stabbing. I just. Those are the deaths where, you know, it's personal. There is rage involved against a kid.
TJ Holmes
You against it.
Cal Penn
I, I don't.
TJ Holmes
Some of these robes. I. I stop and I question. There's something else. I just don't think. No matter how good or bad or even criminal your activity can be or whether your mind can work, I think it's something else. I just don't comprehend how a human is able and capable to do what is described happened to this child for. At the hands of an adult. I just. Human. Just, just. You're not. You can't. There's no brain wired appropriately that can do this.
Amy Robach
Yeah, I. I don't.
TJ Holmes
You can't.
Amy Robach
I don't know how. Yes, I don't. You. No matter how angry and how crazy, that to me goes beyond anything that's understandable. So Odessia Stevens had 21 stab wounds. Fourteen of them were in her neck. So it's just you. Obviously he wanted her to die. And then little Hennessia had four stab wounds in her chest and neck. And so yes, both of them died an excruciating death. And right now, look, there's not much chance that he's going to have a stay either. But his attorneys have argued that that his execution should be delayed. Once again, over fingerprints. They say there is a fingerprint on one of the knife blades that was used in the attacks. It hasn't been identified and they want time to test this fingerprint. I'm just wondering, like in all of these cases, these aren't recent murders, these aren't recent convictions. Why, oh why do we wait until the 11th hour to start saying, wait a minute, there's still DNA that hasn't been tested or hasn't been identified. And I understand that we have new technology that allows for different kinds of testing and different ways to look at evidence that we didn't have at the time of the trial. Understand that. But it's been around for a while now. So I just don't know, you know, if it's just a delay tactic. You're just delaying the inevitable. But I know that is oftentimes what we see. This is attorneys doing their jobs.
TJ Holmes
We want to get it right. Right. But at some point, you gotta cut this thing off. Baruch, this is kind of an extraordinary. There aren't really that many. This is gonna be what, 12, 13 and 14. Or 13, 14, 15.
Amy Robach
I think it's 13. 14, 15.
TJ Holmes
Yeah, these will be, yes, up to the 15th execution so far this year, the number scheduled right now on the books. Robes, I don't know if it would take us up to the total that we saw last year. But as we say, and as we've seen, certainly with our guy down in
Amy Robach
Florida, DeSantis, you put in front of
TJ Holmes
him, he'll sign it.
Amy Robach
Yes. And so, yes, this final one in Florida, we already know Governor DeSantis is not going to be that phone call ringing at 5:59 into the Florida Correctional Facility to say, stop the execution. That is. We know this governor. We know how he operates. And I'm sure. I'm sure that Richard Knight's attorneys are very well aware of that as well.
TJ Holmes
So here you go, Robes, on the numbers, at least Florida only has one execution scheduled the rest of the year after this.
Amy Robach
For now, only one as of yet
Cal Penn
is on the books for June.
TJ Holmes
But how many? Remind me. Oh, I'm sorry. How many last year in the.
Amy Robach
19 in Florida. And 47.
TJ Holmes
Was it 47? I got that right?
Amy Robach
Yes, somewhere around.
TJ Holmes
But again, at the pace the country is on right now, and those that have been scheduled after today, There are only nine more scheduled. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 9. Only nine more on the books for the year, which would take us up then to 24 for the year, which would cut in half almost how many we saw last year, which is 47.
Amy Robach
47 executions across 11 sessions states. And 19 of those, or 40% of the executions happened in Florida. And last year, 2025 was the highest number of executions in one year since 2009.
TJ Holmes
So we will see how the rest of the year looks. But, man, if we kept up averages, three in two days has happened in the country, and we need to all be paying attention. Again, one of them, at least in Tennessee. See, folks are fighting to stop it, but at least there's not a governor that's suggesting that they're going to step in. And no court right now seems likely to step in either. We'll keep an eye on it, folks, but all as always, we appreciate you spending time with us. I'm TJ Holmes. On behalf of my dear Amy Robach, we'll talk soon.
Amy Robach
If audiobooks are your thing, or you've been meaning to listen to more of them, you should check out A podcast called Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club, hosted by Cal Penn.
Cal Penn
Each episode spotlights standout audiobooks on Audible across all kinds of genres. Sci fi, comedy, romance, thrillers and more. With Cal talking to guests who help break down what makes each story worth listening to.
Amy Robach
It's a fun, easy way to discover your next great audiobook.
Cal Penn
Check out Earsay on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Sophia Donner
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Amy Robach
Guaranteed Human.
In this episode, Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes delve into what they call the "deadliest week for the death penalty in the United States" so far this year. Over a 48-hour period, three executions are scheduled across Arizona, Tennessee, and Florida, a rare concentration that sparks discussion about capital punishment, the details behind each case, ongoing legal and moral questions, last-minute appeals, and the responses from both advocates and opponents. The hosts break down the specifics of each case—including the crimes, the convicted individuals, and the voices fighting for or against execution—while reflecting on troubling patterns and the larger context of the American death penalty.
Timestamps: 02:28 – 03:17
Three executions are scheduled within 48 hours, each in a different state: Arizona, Tennessee, and Florida—an unusual and grim clustering.
Amy Robach emphasizes:
"We haven't seen three people scheduled to die by lethal injection in a week, let alone in a period of two days." (03:00 – 03:10)
The hosts clarify that these executions' timing is coincidental, with governors signing independent death warrants across the states.
Timestamps: 04:34 – 08:52
Crime Details: In 2002, Leroy McGill doused a couple with gasoline mixed with Styrofoam (creating a "napalm effect"), setting them on fire. One died; the other survived with severe burns over 75% of her body.
Premeditation and Heinous Circumstances:
"He actually took the time to mix the gasoline with Styrofoam...that it would stick to the victims and it would make their deaths more painful." — Amy Robach (06:00) "Not a spur of the moment…some planning, some premeditation, some intent, and not just intent to kill, but intent to make suffer." — T.J. Holmes (06:47)
Legal Status: No significant clemency requests or innocence claims; McGill has exhausted appeals, mainly on trial error grounds. Jury was quick (one hour) to convict.
Notable Quote:
"This ain't a situation, though, where anyone is saying, hey, we need to test this or test that, or maybe it wasn't him. You have a survivor." — T.J. Holmes (07:21)
Execution Details: Scheduled for the evening in Florence, Arizona. (08:40 – 08:52)
Timestamps: 08:52 – 15:24
Crime Details: Triple homicide involving the burial of victims while alive. Tony Carruthers was convicted of killing a local drug dealer, his mother, and a young friend (the mother was buried alive and died of asphyxiation).
Evidentiary Doubts & Celebrity Involvement:
"There is no actual physical forensic evidence that links Tony Carruthers to these murders." — Amy Robach (09:36)
Legal Concerns:
"He represented himself at trial...In a capital case, in a death penalty case, how and why would you allow someone to represent himself?" — T.J. Holmes (13:01-13:28)
Victim Family Response: The father of one victim forgave Carruthers but supports execution moving forward.
"I forgive him for killing my son and may God have mercy on his soul...but it's time that he meets his maker." — Victim’s Father, via Amy Robach (14:49)
Governor's Stance & Execution Timing:
Timestamps: 19:50 – 24:23
Crime Details: Richard Knight (now 47) was convicted in 2000 for stabbing to death Odessia Stevens, a pregnant woman, and her four-year-old daughter Hesia, after being kicked out of their home.
Motive and Brutality:
"Why you have to kill a child who cannot remember what happened, can't identify you, doesn't make any sense other than your evil." — Amy Robach (20:37) "I just don't comprehend how a human is able and capable to do what is described happened to this child." — T.J. Holmes (22:25)
Legal Issues:
"Why do we wait until the 11th hour...to start saying, ‘wait a minute, there's still DNA that hasn't been tested’?” — Amy Robach (23:11)
Odds for Clemency: Extremely low, especially under Governor DeSantis.
"We already know Governor DeSantis is not going to be that phone call ringing at 5:59..." — Amy Robach (24:59)
Timestamps: 24:23 – 26:27
"47 executions across 11 sessions states. And 19 of those, or 40% of the executions happened in Florida. And last year, 2025 was the highest number of executions in one year since 2009." — Amy Robach (26:09)
Throughout the episode, Amy and T.J. maintain a grave, analytical tone, offering both legal details and emotional reactions. They express horror at the crimes, empathy for victims, recognize systemic problems in the justice system, and repeatedly call attention to the importance of certainty in capital cases. They balance facts with moral reflection, often punctuating legal discourse with deeply human reactions.
This episode provides a rare, close-up look at a spate of imminent executions within the U.S., combining chilling crime details, the intricacies of legal appeals, activist interventions, and a national perspective on the death penalty's trajectory. The hosts challenge listeners to grapple with questions of justice, finality, and the grave responsibility involved in carrying out capital punishment.