Death Row Inmate Says Tonight’s Execution Will Be “Torturous”

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Death Row Inmate Says Tonight’s Execution Will Be 'Torturous'"

Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes Present — November 20, 2025, iHeartPodcasts

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Overview

In this episode, Amy Robach and TJ Holmes discuss the impending execution of Richard Barry Randolph in Florida. The episode centers on Randolph’s last-minute legal appeal arguing that his lupus would make lethal injection "torturous," amid Florida's record-high execution rate under Governor DeSantis. The hosts explore the legal, ethical, and procedural complexities of the death penalty, the case’s disturbing details, challenges with the jury's non-unanimous death sentence, and broader reflections on state executions in America.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Case Background & Randolph's Medical Appeal

• Execution Scheduled: Randolph, 63, is scheduled for lethal injection within hours.
• Unique Legal Argument:
  • Randolph’s attorneys claim lethal injection will be “torturous” due to his lupus, a condition with increased pain sensitivity (03:28–03:40).
  • Lupus causes chronic pain and heightened nerve sensations, making any pain much more severe.
• Judicial Reaction:
  • The judge criticized the timing, noting Randolph had years to present this argument and only raised it at the last moment for a stay (17:54–17:59).

“You’ve had lupus for quite some time — you’re just now bringing this up?”
— Amy Robach paraphrasing the judge (17:59)

2. Florida’s Death Penalty Record Surge

• Statistics:
  • If Randolph’s execution proceeds, Florida will have doubled its previous annual record (from 8 to 17, with 2 more scheduled) (04:37–04:39).
  • Under Governor DeSantis, execution rates have dramatically increased, outpacing Texas, Alabama, and South Carolina.

“DeSantis has been signing death warrants left and right, it seems.”
— TJ Holmes (05:09)

3. Randolph’s Crime Detailed

• Crime in 1980: Randolph murdered 62-year-old Minnie Ruth McCollum, a former coworker, during a robbery.
• Brutality:
  • The attack was prolonged—Randolph beat, stabbed, strangled, raped the victim, then resumed trying to crack the safe between bouts of violence.
  • McCollum survived six days in hospital, succumbing to brain injuries (08:08–10:00).
• No Denial: Randolph admitted guilt, showing police where he hid bloody clothes.

“He’s essentially going back and forth between robbing and killing her... this was a horrific scene.”
— TJ Holmes (08:11)

4. Legal Arguments Against Execution

• Defense Appeals: Only mitigating factors cited included Randolph's troubled childhood, military service, PTSD, and drug addiction.
  • Courts found these insufficient; the Florida Supreme Court dismissed the appeal (05:49–06:21).
  • Randolph also claimed adoptive parental abuse, but records showed loving adoptive parents.

5. Human Nature & Death Row Inmates' Final Challenges

• Survival Instinct: Hosts reflect on most death row inmates fighting execution until the end, despite decades on death row.
• Exception: Only one Florida inmate this year opted against further appeals, accepting execution (12:18–12:47).

“Most inmates on death row, regardless of the quality of their life, it’s still a life... there’s a human instinct to live, to survive, regardless of your circumstances.”
— Amy Robach (12:47)

6. Jury Non-Unanimity Issue

• Jury Split: Randolph’s death sentence was decided by an 8-4 jury vote, not unanimity (17:54–19:46).
  • The trial court acknowledged this reflected “significant disagreement.”
  • Jury only heard from one mitigation witness.
  • Florida law on death sentence unanimity has since changed multiple times; currently, non-unanimous decisions are again permitted.
  • Only Alabama joins Florida in allowing such decisions, with a 10-2 requirement (20:46).
• Hosts express discomfort with such a slim margin deciding a life-or-death outcome.

“We would never accept that margin when it comes to guilt or innocence — so why for life or death?”
— TJ Holmes (21:15)

7. Ethical & Systemic Considerations

• Moral/Ethical Dilemmas: The state ceremony of execution elicits discomfort—even among those supporting the death penalty (19:46).
• Innocence and System Failures: Concerns raised over wrongful convictions and irreversible outcomes with non-unanimous juries.
• Victims’ Families and Deterrence: Discuss how victims’ families often have no voice and that the death penalty has not proven to be a deterrent (22:09–23:24).
• Financial Cost: Executions are more expensive than life sentences due to legal processes and repeated appeals (23:55–24:12).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Randolph’s Medical Argument:
  “He’s complaining about, and concerned about, and afraid of feeling extraordinary pain. I don’t know how many people are gonna feel very sympathetic when they read the crime and what he did.”
  — Amy Robach (10:00)

• On the drive to survive:
  “He’s trying everything he can to stay alive. No hope of getting out... he just wants to live. It’s always fascinating about these stories.”
  — TJ Holmes (11:11)

• On Non-Unanimity:
  “I had no idea that [a death sentence] could be that wide of a margin and still go through.”
  — Amy Robach (20:46)

• On the systemic learning from covering executions:
  “You understand and can have — not even — you don’t have to have sympathy, but you can have at least some kind of compassion and sometimes not sympathy, but empathy... there’s pain all around in these stories.”
  — TJ Holmes (21:19)

• On the death penalty as a deterrent:
  “It’s never been proven to be a deterrent in any way, shape or form. But after this year in Florida, you would think a criminal would say, maybe... I’m not going to do it in Florida.”
  — Amy Robach (23:09)

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Key Segment Timestamps

• [02:52] – Randolph’s scheduled execution and his medical appeal introduction
• [04:37] – Florida’s record-breaking execution rate under DeSantis
• [06:31] – Defense arguments and background on Randolph’s childhood/adoption
• [08:08] – Step-by-step account of the crime against Minnie Ruth McCollum
• [10:00] – Discussion of victim’s suffering vs. Randolph’s pain claim
• [11:11] – Reflections on inmates’ instinct to survive
• [17:54] – Judge’s response to last-minute lupus argument
• [19:46] – Deep dive on the 8–4 jury split and legal implications
• [21:19] – Reflections on empathy and the systemic complexity of executions
• [23:09] – Discussion on deterrence and financial toll of the death penalty

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Tone & Style

Amy Robach and TJ Holmes maintain a tone that’s analytical but empathetic, frequently pausing to reflect on the profound human, ethical, and legal questions raised. The discussion is direct about the brutal facts of the crime and the uncomfortable realities of state executions, providing a nuanced view that scrutinizes not just logistics but the morality and systemic flaws in America's death penalty system.

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For listeners seeking a probing, detailed, and candid exploration of a controversial execution and the mechanics of capital punishment in Florida, this episode offers essential insights and thought-provoking discussion.

Transcript

[Amy Robach]

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[TJ Holmes]

So like a posture gadget of some kind?

[Amy Robach]

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[TJ Holmes]

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[Amy Robach]

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[TJ Holmes]

I'm Ed Helms.

[Cal Penn]

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[TJ Holmes]

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[TJ Holmes]

Hey there, folks. It is Thursday, November 20, and a man is scheduled to die in a matter of hours in Florida by lethal injection. He is making an argument, though, that the execution should be stopped. Why? Because it might be too painful for him. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ Robes. He has some logic here for why he might feel more pain than anyone else. I don't know if I've heard this argument necessarily before and we have covered a bunch of executions here lately.

[Amy Robach]

Yeah, this is the first one that I've heard that is trying to use a medical condition that he says will make lethal injection be torturous for him. We're talking about 63 year old Richard Barry Randolph. And his attorneys say, yes, that injecting him with lethal injection will be torturous because he has lupus. And lupus, one of the side effects is that you have increased pain sensitivity. So it causes chronic pain and it leads to nerve sensations, like heightened nerve sensations, basically. So your central nervous system is basically ramped up.

[TJ Holmes]

It's painful. It can be uncomfortable.

[Josh Zieman]

Yeah.

[Amy Robach]

Something that would be painful to you and I would be extraordinarily painful to somebody who has lupus.

[TJ Holmes]

Okay. So that's the argument this man is making. Don't know how far that's going to go, but that's certainly interesting. Robes. As we sit here getting ready for Florida now to continue a record pace, this will officially put them over. They have more than. If this execution goes through tonight, they would have more than doubled their previous record for executions in a year.

[Amy Robach]

That's correct.

[TJ Holmes]

And they're not even done after this one.

[Amy Robach]

That's right. So the previous record was eight executions in the state of Florida in one calendar year. Tonight's execution is number 17 in the state of Florida. And Governor DeSantis announced this week another execution that he's just put on the books for next month. So there are two more planned executions in the state of Florida alone. So, yes, it looks like if things all go according to the plan Governor DeSantis has put in place, there will be a total of 19 inmates executed in the state of Florida.

[TJ Holmes]

And that's way ahead. Usually we have, I think nobody's surprised, Texas leading the way. I guess Texas, Alabama, South Carolina are the ones now that have five. There you go. So Florida is way out and way ahead. And DeSantis has been signing death warrants left and right, it seems. Here Lately, now this road, we've covered several of these. Most recently Tremaine Wood, whose execution in Oklahoma he got commuted and he's life in prison. That was special circumstances of the case that folks thought were worthy of looking at. Not the argument being made for, for this guy when it comes to the crime itself.

[Amy Robach]

No. In fact, the only arguments attorneys have made is that he had a terrible childhood, that he did have an honorable service as a member of the military, but that he suffered ptsd. He was addicted to crack cocaine. So they were trying to kind of basically lay out this woe is me. I had a terrible lot in life and I made a really bad decision, but it has not worked. The Florida Supreme Court said, sorry, that is not an argument that you can make to take away a death penalty.

[TJ Holmes]

Did I see right? One of the arguments was about his really a lack of love from his parents or his mom in particular. But apparently he had loving adoptive parents.

[Amy Robach]

The judge pointed that out like, I don't want to hear about your problem with your biological parents because you were adopted by a loving family. And he claimed though that the mom who adopted him was an alcoholic and that the father was abusive. So, you know, he's claiming all of these things, but I figure anyone who's in a situation like his probably could point to a pretty terrible childhood.

[TJ Holmes]

Yeah. So all that's been rejected. I think the Supreme Court is the only thing that could save him now. Obviously desantis could save him tonight. Nobody is expecting that at all, of course. So that is his last hope. But this was a pretty. This is another one, Rose. This car was 38 years ago. Yes, that's death row for 38 years.

[Amy Robach]

And that is what Desantis is trying to clear up. He's saying this is not justice. This is taking way too long. We are not following through on what a jury has chosen as the fate of these prisoners. And we are just dragging our feet. There have been lots of reasons why, but he has now tried to speed up the process and he is certainly doing so. So yes, this was a crime. It happened back in 1980, the murder of a 62 year old woman, Minnie Ruth McCollum. She was working in a convenience store a small town in Florida, East Palatka. Never heard of it, but he was. Richard Barry Randolph was a former co worker of hers. So he knew her and he went back to the store to rob the safe. That was his goal. And she interrupted him. She came in while he was trying to break into the safe.

[TJ Holmes]

He's 27 at the time. And she's 60. What'd you just say?

[Amy Robach]

62.

[TJ Holmes]

62 year old lady. So this, a scuffle ensues. You certainly assume he has the advantage in that scuffle. So this is where it gets awful. He does beat her. He beats her repeatedly, essentially almost taking breaks from beating her. So he can go continue to try to open the safe, if you can imagine that horror. He's essentially going back and forth between robbing and killing her, essentially. And this went on for quite some time. This was a horrific scene they described.

[Amy Robach]

Yeah. Prosecutors say it was prolonged and it was brutal. And they did, they pointed out the fact that he was taking the time to continue to try and break into the safe. And then he apparently said something to authorities alluding to the fact that she was stronger than he thought, like he was annoyed that she wouldn't be. So he was strangling her, he was beating her, he was stabbing her and then he raped her. So this is horrific. And he doesn't deny it. He admitted this. He actually showed police where the bloody clothes were that he stashed away when he was caught a short while later. So this is not a question of guilt or innocence, but the brutality of the crime speaks volumes and it is a tough one to stomach.

[TJ Holmes]

And this is one now we keep an eye on robes to talk about lupus. Is this going to factor in? We've seen several lethal injection. Injection, I say seen, but you know what I mean. I don't mean that literally during the year. And there are different reports afterwards of what the witnesses say, the inmate, how the inmate reacted to being, getting those drugs. And I think a lot of people are going to be watching closely tonight to see if this guy with lupus ends up, I don't know, having some.

[Amy Robach]

Kind of an adverse reaction in extraordinary pain or not. It also, it was. You mentioned, you asked how old she was and I was looking at how old he was. I think it's so interesting. She was 62 years old when he brutally, painfully beat her. They were talking, oh, by the way, she was alive when police found her. I want to point that out. She was alive, still fighting, clinging to life. She spent six days in the hospital before she finally succumbed to her injuries. He essentially beat her into a coma and it was the brain injuries that ended up. Her brain swelled and she ended up dying. But she was stabbed in the throat. I mean, it was as excruciating as you could possibly imagine. She was 62. He is now 63. He got to live one year longer than her. But now he's upset and complaining about and concerned about and afraid of feeling extraordinary pain. I don't know how many people are gonna feel very sympathetic when they read the crime and what he did. And there was zero regard for her pain or her suff or anything that this 62 year old woman went through. So now he is 63 and he will probably be spared. Oh, certainly given the circumstances of her death, some of the pain she experienced.

[TJ Holmes]

Didn't we talk about. What were we talking about just recently? About the end. Right. We talked about, you know, the story of these entertainment twins who died together. Double suicide. Right. Assisted suicide. And we were talking about in prison, if you gave people the option to die and to die painfully, painlessly, do you think people in prison with long sentences would take it? And you and I, I think both said no because in the end people want to live. And so here he is, prison, 38 years, death row. This is the end. And he's fighting, fighting as hard as he can, coming up with anything he can because he wants to live. I'm always fascinated. We all have this thing. It's inherent in us. It's just instinct to want to live, to want to survive. So we're not surprised to see any of this. He's trying everything he can to stay alive. No hope of getting out. He's not trying to, you know, get his conviction overturned. He just wants to live. I think that is, it's always fascinating about these stories.

[Amy Robach]

It is fascinating. I absolutely agree with you. And you see it every time. Only one execution that I can remember from this year and we have covered most of them where we had an inmate who said, yep, go ahead, kill me.

[TJ Holmes]

He skipped all. The guy in Florida don't want any.

[Amy Robach]

More appeals, don't care about trying to get the Supreme Court to take a look at my case. Just go ahead and do it.

[TJ Holmes]

Wasn't he also the one where they asked any last words? And his response was simply no and that was it? So yes, that is the only one.

[Amy Robach]

He is the exception. You are right. Most inmates on death row, regardless of the quality of their life, it's still a life. And people, there's a human instinct to live, to survive, regardless of your circumstances. And that is what we have seen time and time again. Now when we come back, there is an interesting part of this case. He and this is very rare, there was not a unanimous decision for the death penalty. In fact, when you hear what the spread was among the jury, it does raise some eyebrows. And certainly has raised some questions as to whether or not that should be allowed. TJ did you know there is clothing that can actually move your body in real time while improving your posture and your back health?

[TJ Holmes]

So like a posture gadget of some kind?

[Amy Robach]

No, it's called Form Form Science Engineers Smart posture clothing for your health and confidence. It's endorsed by Taylor Swift, Oprah, Olympians and orthopedic surgeons. All you have to do is wear it and it will change your posture whole body literally instantly on its own. Like autopilot.

[TJ Holmes]

Oh, come on. That simple.

[Amy Robach]

Exactly. It's perfect for work, travel, sports, or even sleep. And it's made in the usa. Invest in your health and confidence. Check it out at Forum Science. That's F O R M E Science. Or on Instagram at Form Science.

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[Josh Zieman]

A decade ago, I was on the trail of one of the country's most elusive serial killers. But it wasn't until 2023 when he was finally caught. The answers were there, hidden in plain sight. So why did it take so long to catch him? Josh I'm Josh Zieman, and this is Monster Hunting the Long Island Serial Killer, the investigation into the most notorious killer in New York since the Son of Sam. Available now. Listen for free on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[TJ Holmes]

It's okay not to be okay sometimes and be able to build strength and.

[Josh Zieman]

Love within each other.

[Eliot Khani]

Thanksgiving isn't just about food. It's a day for us to show up for one another. I'm Eliot Khani, host of the podcast Family Therapy, a series where real families come together to heal and find hope. What would be a clue that would be like? I've gotten lots of text messages from him. This one's from a little bit better.

[Amy Robach]

Of a version of him because he's feeding himself well. It's always a concern, like, are you eating well? He's actually an amazing cook.

[TJ Holmes]

There was this One time where we had neighbors and I saved their dog and I ended up inviting them over for food. And that was like one of my proudest moments.

[Eliot Khani]

This is family therapy. Real families, real stories on a journey to heal together. Listen to season two of family Therapy every Wednesday on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Audible Narrator]

May 24, 1990. A pipe bomb explodes in the front seat of environmental activist Judy Berry's car.

[Amy Robach]

I knew it was a bomb the second that it explained. I felt it rip through me with just a force more powerful and terrible than anything that I could describe.

[Audible Narrator]

In season two of Rip Current, we ask who tried to kill Judy Berry.

[Rip Current Narrator]

And why she received death threats before the bombing. She received more threats after the bombing.

[TJ Holmes]

The men and women who were heard had planned to lead a summer of militant protest against logging practices in Northern California.

[Amy Robach]

They were climbing trees and they were sabotaging logging equipment in the woods.

[Rip Current Narrator]

The timber industry, I mean, it was the number one industry in the area. But more than it was the culture, it was the way of life.

[TJ Holmes]

I think that this is a deliberate.

[Eliot Khani]

Attempt to sabotage our movement.

[Audible Narrator]

Episodes of rip current season two are available now. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Amy Robach]

Continuing our coverage of Florida's 17th execution of the year happen tonight, 63 year old Richard Barry Randolph will die by lethal injection. He has made complaints and appeals to anyone who will listen to try and stay his execution or at least change the method of his execution. He has lupus and he says that this is going to be a torturous death. Because of his condition, his nerve endings, his nervous system is already experiences more pain than most people. So to go through a lethal injection while suffering lupus, his attorneys had argued, was cruel and unusual. But that has fallen on deaf ears.

[TJ Holmes]

How did the judge put it? He really said, really? Now you wanna bring this up now?

[Amy Robach]

He said, you've had lupus for quite some time. You're just now bringing this up. You had years to try and change the method of execution and you didn't. You chose to do it in the 11th hour, which makes him feel like this is just an attempt to stay in execution rather than actually mitigate pain. So that is what the judge said. But there was something really interesting that I, I have learned so much as we've been covering these executions. But in Randolph's jury, the death sentence, there was a vote, right? The jury votes. In most states you have to have a unanimous decision. By a jury to vote for the death penalty. And in some cases the judge can intervene. But his jury voted 8 to 4. And even the trial court at the time acknowledged that. That narrow margin, they said, reflected significant disagreement about what the appropriate punishment was. They also pointed out that this jury only heard from one mitigation witness when there should have been more so they could have had a better, clearer picture. They say the jury didn't get to hear about his troubled childhood. They didn't get to hear about his crack addiction or about his military service and all the good that he did. So there was a lot of frustration about that. Now listen to this. I didn't realize this. The Florida supreme court then changed this law and said death sentences have to be unanimous. And then they gave it. It had to happen in cases after 2004, there was some sort of thing. So he missed out on that because it happened too early. And then just two years ago in 2023, the Florida State legature just wiped it all clean and said, you know what, you can have a non unanimous death sentence. Now they put it back to where it was. And so there have been other instances where you have seen that 8 to 4 split.

[TJ Holmes]

That is tough. Look, I don't think it's the way you talk. It's a tough, tough challenge for some to accept state sanctioned killings. Right? Yes, I get it. It's a part of our system. But some people say these are monsters. Sometimes they need to be, I find. And others argue. I'm not having the argument about it being deterrent. I'm just saying as a human being, it's uncomfortable. The idea of us going through ceremony of killing somebody. So Rose, this guy. I still think this is a bigger part of a problem for me. We've seen too many people exonerate it when we're talking about somebody's life. We can't have eight to four decisions. We can't have it. That kind of split. We need to be more sure than that.

[Amy Robach]

Agreed. And that is the split. If it had been 9. Sorry, if it had been, what would have been 10?

[Eliot Khani]

2.

[TJ Holmes]

I'm not a fan. 11, 1. Still not 8.

[Amy Robach]

4 is what it is in the state of Florida. Now, since they've put it back in place, guess what the only other state is that allows a non unanimous death sentence to stand. Alabama, now they have a 10 to 2 split. So they say it has to be. It has to be higher. It's higher. The threshold's higher. 10 to 2. That's to me, I was surprised? 8 to 4. I had no idea that it could be that wide of a margin and still go through.

[TJ Holmes]

We would never accept that margin when it comes to guilt or innocence.

[Amy Robach]

Nope.

[TJ Holmes]

So why life or death? That's. That's bizarre. It's strange. Yes. We have learned so much about the death penalty. We've learned a lot about cases, mistakes that are made, and how you need to sometimes dig a little deeper in a lot of these stories and not just read the headlines. And you understand and can have. Not even. You don't have to have sympathy, but you can have at least some kind of compassion and sometimes not sympathy, but empathy, because you hear so much of what families are going through on both sides is you can relate to in a lot of ways. And there's pain all around in these stories. And it's rare to get a celebration robes. I know the guy. And Tremaine Wood. Yeah, right. It's weird to have one where it feels like you are celebrating somebody died in that case. But here we are celebrating at least maybe that the system got it. Maybe not 100% right, but got it better.

[Amy Robach]

And look, all of these inmates, these death row inmates, are never getting out of prison. They are all sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. So the question is, do you go through a 36. And in one case last week, was it a 47 year, 46 year, almost 50 years on death row. You know, do you go through that process with the appeals and with all of. There's a financial burden when you. When you sentence someone to death, significantly higher than just putting someone in prison for the rest of their lives. And we've talked about this before, too. When you have family members of the victims who don't want to see an eye for an eye take place in the name of their loved one who died. You know, there are. There are other. We have learned so much about the fact that victims don't really have a voice in a lot of these cases. And it's surprising to me, state by state, just how different it is, the rules and what has to be put in place or what laws need to be there for people to die without a unanimous decision.

[TJ Holmes]

Even the methods we're amazed by.

[Amy Robach]

Yes, it is fascinating. I am surprised. We talk about how the death penalty, it's never been proven to be a deterrent in any way, shape or form. But my God, I feel like after this year in Florida, you would think a criminal would say, maybe if I'm going to commit a crime, I'm not going to do it in Florida.

[TJ Holmes]

Hadn't thought about that. But you make a point if you see people actually following through on the death penalty. And I think a lot of people who are pro death penalty will absolutely tell you that it's not. Yeah, it would be a deterrent if we actually used it. So here we are. It's not a deterrent to be on death row for 30, 40, 50 years.

[Amy Robach]

Not really. And first of all, people never think they're going to get caught. That's the number one reason why it's not a deterrent. But then, yes, if you don't have states following through on the death penalties that they enact, if you're not enforcing it, then, yes, it's. It doesn't seem that scary.

[TJ Holmes]

You make a good point, a financial one as well, because you hear it initially. Well, why is it more expensive? Right. You kill them and it's over. You're not taking care of him in prison anymore. This is 30 years of trials, appeals, attorneys, taking them back and forth for court, all of that.

[Amy Robach]

And you have tons. And you have to have that in place because of the innocent people who have been placed on death row. You have to give these inmates and every last opportunity to try and reverse course or prove their innocence in a way that you wouldn't if someone just had a life sentence, because it is life or death. And we will, of course, be following this case, as well as the other three scheduled for the rest of the year. But in the meantime, thank you all for listening to us. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ Holmes. We'll talk to you soon. This is an I Heart podcast.