| In February, 2004, in a northeast US Prison, a largely ignored multiple murderer was scheduled to die in the Gas Chamber. The prisoner, Curtis Starks, was given one last chance to "cleanse his soul' by the psychiatrist assigned to his case. Curtis was allowed to sit alone in a dark room, with two cameras set up to catch his final thoughts and possible admissions. The idea was, since he was unwilling to open up to people, maybe this avenue would allow him to express his remorse, resentment or whatever else was burning inside of him, before he moved on to the next step. Curtis' video was intense, gripping and twisted. This was a man who killed without remorse. He felt perfectly justified in the taking of each life; despite how seemingly trivial the provocations had been. In a chilling, graphic twist, Curtis takes away the state's opportunity to end his life by taking it himself. It would seem he got the last, very bizarre, laugh. This video was scheduled to be reviewed by three top minds of the psychological field. The review was to be in the form of a live, coffee-table discussion, to be broadcast on Public Access. The set was an old "safe room" of the maximum security prison which had housed Curtis, just yards away from where he was to be put to death in the gas chamber. Curtis was to die at 12:00 AM... The taping was to begin at 12:01 AM. The panelists went ahead with the discussion, actually benefiting from Curtis' on-camera dramatics. The brutal end to the tape could ... |
