Frontline

The Execution (1999x3)

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FRONTLINE looks into the mind and soul of a death row killer and the effect of his execution on all who had a stake in it. Clifford Boggess was a pianist and artist. He was also a cold-blooded murderer. Boggess spent almost ten years on Texas' death row praying and awaiting the execution chamber. And while he prayed, the tormented families of his two victims brutally slain in convenience store robberies impatiently awaited the lethal injection that took his life in June 1998. FRONTLINE's web site offers a collection of material explaining Boggess--Who was he? Should he have been executed? The site presents video of Boggess describing in brutal detail the two murders; an expert's analysis of whether Boggess fit the profile of a psychopath; the letters Boggess wrote to his victims 'families; his artwork. The site also includes articles on: why Texas is the number one execution state; a history of capital punishment; a report on the speed up in habeas corpus appeals; and the best pro and con death penalty arguments by Supreme Court Justices, Pope John Paul II, legal scholars, the American Bar Association and U.S. Catholic Bishops.