User Reviews

On Death Row: Conversations with Hank Skinner (2012)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

The fourth of Werner Herzog's original series of interviews with death row inmates takes a look at Hank Skinner. This man was convicted of murdering his girlfriend as well as her two mentally challenged sons. The Skinner case is a bit different as he claims to be innocent but also he was sent to the death house twice only to get a stay of execution at the very last second. This here is another very good entry in Herzog's series. I think the best thing about this is the fact that Skinner went to the death house a couple times, had his last meal and had the pressure of counting down his final minutes. I thought it was rather interesting getting to hear from someone who was actually very close to death but this doesn't take away the fact that Skinner comes off as a major baby. If he's really innocent of this crime then I'll take that back but throughout the film he's constantly complaining about his living conditions yet, if he hadn't murdered three people, he wouldn't be where he is. Throughout the film it just seems like Skinner forgets that he's in prison for a reason. Until he's cleared of the crime he deserves to be where he's at but I'm sure Herzog will revisit him if his case gets thrown out and he walks out of prison as a free man.

Convicted triple murderer Hank Skinner certainly sounds persuasive when he claims he didn't slaughter Twila Busby and her two imbecile sons. His claim that the district attorney withheld exculpatory evidence also sounds convincing, especially in view of the US Supreme Court decision in Skinner v Switzer. The only problem is that Skinner is guilty. This man has generated a lot of support from the anti-death penalty lobby, but there is also an excellent website called hankskinner dot com that tears his claims to shreds.

Werner Herzog who interviewed him on two separate occasions is a staunch opponent of the death penalty, and it is difficult to sus how much of Skinner's flim-flam he has swallowed. He certainly wasn't taken in by Linda Carty, whom he interviewed for the second programme in this series.

Skinner has escaped execution more than once, including by literally a matter of minutes, but as long as he never sees the light of day again, no one including Herzog should lose any sleep whether he lives or dies.