58-year-old Frank Athen Walls is being put to death as this episode is being published, 40 years after his first murder when he was just 17 years old. Walls eventually admitted to killing 5 people all before he turned 20, terrorizing the panhandle of Florida from 1985 to 1987.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey there, folks. It is Thursday, December eighteenth, and as
we're putting this episode out, a man in Florida is
being escorted to a death chamber. He is going to
be placed on a gurney, he is going to be
strapped in needles are going to be placed in his arms,
and the state of Florida is going to execute what
(00:23):
is now the nineteenth inmate of the year, far far
surpassing its previous record. Welcome to this episode of Amy
and TJ and Romes. I mentioned that, and this is
scheduled to be the last execution of the year, but
strangely enough, we'll get into why it might not be.
And just an execution night is always a solemn.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Night, it is, and the details surrounding what this man
was convicted of and what he's admitted to are especially horrific. Obviously,
anyone on death row has admitted the worst of the
worst crimes, but this one actually blew my mind when
I started reading the details. I didn't even know. Honestly,
(01:07):
I haven't even ever heard of a teenage serial killer,
but that's what this man was.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
And strangely enough, there was so much distance between tonight
his execution night and the night of the first murder
he ever committed. And we are talking about forty years ago.
This has been forty years almost that he has been
on death row to get to this point. Is this
(01:36):
justice anymore? Everybody involved in the case is dead. Yeah,
family members, a lot of stuff.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
As we were researching this, it said so many of
the victim's family members who were seeking justice, who were
there at the trial, who were pushing for this to
come to fruition, have all passed away. So one of
the family members who will talk about who is speaking out,
was two at the time of the murders. That's how
(02:04):
much time has passed. Four decades has passed since he
began his murder spring.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
And it was her grandmother, the two year all you're
talking about. So we will get into that, but we'll
tell you where we are tonight, folks. Again, as we're
putting this episode out, six o'clock Eastern time is when
the lethal injection execution is to take place for Frank
Athan Walls, a fifty eight year old man who, as
you said, Robes, was involved in what at the time
(02:34):
were called the Tuesday murders, but he committed what helped
me with my account, five murders, five essentially between the
ages of seventeen and nineteen, all before the age of twenty.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
I've never heard of that before. And this all took
place in the Panhandle of Florida between yes nineteen eighty
five and nineteen eighty seven, And the man who was
the sheriff at the time said those two years in
that county, in Okahoosa County, it was sheer terror. People
were afraid because he was choosing people at random. These
(03:11):
weren't people who had done anything to him, who he
had any relationship to or with. And it's just mind
blowing to think someone that young could be that vicious
and that evil and that cruel. That is actually beyond
shocking to me.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Well, it says again Frank Athan Walls. He is being
executed tonight for the conviction in a double murder in
nineteen eighty seven. However, after he was caught and convicted
of that, he ends up making a deal in which
he is admitting to three other murders of women. Those murders,
(03:49):
all of them between the years of eighty five and
eighty seven, again all before he was the age of twenty.
This was just a bizarre detail, and they called him
the Tuesday murders.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
At the time, Yeah, I had never heard of this,
but again, it maybe makes a lot of sense because
it's not been in the headlines recently because it's been
so long. I actually was looking at some stories that
were written ten years ago and they were all kind
of a gas that he had been on death row
for thirty years and they were trying to get his
execution date set. That was ten years ago. So, yes,
(04:19):
Tuesday murders. All of the murders happened on a Tuesday
or overnight Tuesday, so the victims might have been found
on Wednesday, but it seemed as though he was killing
people on Tuesdays Tuesday night.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
See anything or what was the Was this just a
coincidence or there was some theory behind why it lined
up that way?
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Who knows. But obviously, if you've been slightly obsessed with
serial killers and they usually have patterns, they usually leave
some sort of earmark. They'll either take some sort of
a trophy, or they'll do something to kind of almost
leave their signature or their stamp on a murder to
kind of almost take credit for it, so police know, Yeah, guys,
(05:00):
it's me again, and so it would read with what
you hear about other serial killers doing. There is some planning,
there's some method to their madness. We might not be
able to get in their brains. But it seems odd
that it would just be random. It sounds like it
was something he chose. It sounds like something he did deliberately.
That was his mark. I'll do it on a Tuesday.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Well, in nineteen eighty seven, on a Tuesday, here a
double murder. This is when he broke into the home
of a couple that was sleeping. This was a twenty
two year old and a twenty year old couple. The man,
Edgar Alger, happened to be an airman's a US Service member.
These folks pretty vicious here. The woman and Louise Peterson
was shot two times. The man he had his throat
(05:44):
slashed and was shot three times. Again. No rhyme or
reason or why these folks, why this house, why this night.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
It might have been a crime of opportunity, but they
I was reading the details of this attack and look
Edward Alger. It just it's heartbreaking when you hear about this.
You put yourself in that place at that time, And
they said he fought like hell. He fought like hell,
and so as even when his throat was slashed, he
was fighting back and pushing and punching, and that's when
(06:15):
he went ahead and shot him. They said his mo
the Tuesday killer, Frank Athan Wall, preferred to use a knife,
and so he started out with a knife. But because
things got heated and Edward Alger wasn't going down without
a major fight, he ended up shooting him. But his
method or his weapon of choice in these murders was
(06:35):
a knife.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
And to that point, the person he ends up admitting
to killing prior to killing this couple, the scariest part
you just mentioned the share was talking about how they
were terrorized. The woman he admitted to killing. That killing
had been two months prior and a block away from
where he had killed the couple.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Yes, this was Audrey Geege. She was forty seven years
old and she was stabbed to death at her home
and she had children and actually grandchildren. And we will
read you her granddaughter's statement because it's very powerful and
speaks to where these family members who are still alive
are in this journey that they have been on for
(07:20):
four decades. But she and just think about the hole
that leaves in a family. And she was just forty
seven years old, so young, but again random. He had
no connection to her. There was no reason why he
needed to break into her home and stab her to death.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
And the killing he admitted to from the previous year,
nineteen eighty six, woman by the name of Cynthia Sue Condra,
twenty four years old, another young lady stabbed a twenty
one times.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Twenty one time.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
This was vicious and I read somewhere he had no
rhyme or reason. He explained kind of a way. He
just has these fits of rage sometimes that overcome him.
He in trying to explain some of his behavior, which
it seems like robes. He didn't have answers either. But
this is some This is some vicious stuff. In every
single one of these, it's something horrific. And the first
(08:10):
one he admitted to in nineteen eighty five, this is
another one that just you're like Jesus.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
She was lying out in the sun, sunbathing in her bikini.
This was in March of nineteen eighty five. She was
just nineteen years old, so he was seventeen at the time.
She was nineteen. Just can you I think about this.
Oh my goodness, my daughters loved doing this. Laying out
in the sun, you're closing your eyes, maybe you have
music playing. You are not thinking for one second you're
(08:38):
in any danger in the middle of the day, sunbathing.
But he admitted to raping her and slashing her throat,
and that was the first murder. Although he was never
convicted in that, he admitted to it as part of
a plea deal to avoid a second death penalty conviction.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Yeah, so an avoiding a trial. But yeah, idea, it's possible.
I was asking you, but it was possible. He was
facing a double death penalty in some of these, so
that's why the deals were made.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Back.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
I just that's tough roles when you talk about justice.
A conviction, okay, is one thing, but the punishment hasn't
been carried out. It's almost it sounds crazy, but if
someone has been convicted of a crime and they get
twenty years in prison, but they get to stay at
home before they get to go to jail, that's what
(09:29):
is like. The sentence hasn't really been carried out until
the death penalty is carried out, and to wait forty
years for essentially what he was is supposed to be
his punishment, correct.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
And so look, wherever you stand on the death penalty,
this is wrong. This is wrong because if you are
if you're going to have a sentence of death, then
that sentence should be carried out. Yes, somebody has to
have the opportunity to appeal it and all of that.
So fine, I understand there has to some period of
time where there's a fair appeals process in place. But
(10:04):
forty years and look, we've said this and it has
been noted and studied. The death penalty is not a
deterrent for criminals. First of all, no one thinks they're
going to get caught. But also in the system we're in,
a lot of them might think, yeah, but I'm still
going to have thirty years before I'm actually going to
be put to death, so I'll be able to appeal it,
(10:26):
I'll be able to overturn it. It doesn't feel as
frightening because it's so delayed. We're not just talking a
couple of years or even a couple decades. Forty This
is not the first time we have seen forty years
go by.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
You were telling me there have been a couple more.
I remember the thirty seven. But this is just nobody. Again,
Like you said, no matter how you feel about it,
through forty years is too long for any family to
have to wait for justice to be carried out. We
did mention a family member. Some are speaking again with
so many I think I saw that a husband and
(11:03):
I think two kids of one of the victims has
actually passed away since so they weren't around to see
this day. But the granddaughter, who was two years old
at the time, probably no memory of grandma. But she
was two years old at the time, and she is
still fighting for her family. I applaud that I do too.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Can you imagine she probably, I mean, obviously, she grew
up with this story. She grew up knowing this. This
was I'm sure a huge hole in her family, and
she felt that even though she doesn't remember her grandmother,
I'm sure she sees pictures and has heard all the stories.
So yeah, she's passionate about this, and so she told
(11:41):
She told a local reporter, I am going to have
a drink and toast to my grandma and close that chapter.
She's probably pouring her drink right now as you listen
to this.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
I didn't get word of who was attending. I don't
know if any family members of the victims would be
in attendance, but it's always interesting to hear and oftentimes
they don't want to be there, and oftentimes they we've
seen plenty that don't want the executions to go forward.
This is not that case.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
No, no, this this is something that at least we're here,
and honestly, like you said, so many of the people
affected and impacted by his murder spree, by his violence
are no longer here. So we just have heard from
this granddaughter and I understand. Look, we have been very
(12:31):
outspoken about certain death penalty cases and concerns about guilt
or innocence. This one is not that case. And this
one is just so evil and so unexplained and so concerning.
If he wasn't caught, assuredly he would have continued, well wow,
there was nothing stopping him.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
But what do they get? I mean, defendants, right, people
arrested have a right to a speedy trial? Or is
there no right to a speedy justice? Is there? Know?
Why is anybody having to wait forty years for this
to be carried out?
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yes, and he tried very like diligently through his attorneys
to not die. He is fighting his death sentence. He
has said he's mentally disabled. But then again I was
reading he apparently told some jail worker that he was
faking it, that he was faking being mentally insufficient so
that he could get off of the death penalty, like
(13:27):
deliberately failing as IQ test, et cetera, et cetera. So anyway,
no one was buying it. It wasn't that he tried,
and his attorneys tried to get a stay of execution
up until the last few days, citing all sorts of things,
but among them that he's mentally disabled and the fact
that he was nineteen years old when he was convicted
or seventeen when he committed his first murder, but he
(13:49):
was convicted on the murder he committed, I believe when
he was eighteen or nineteen, And that's where the rule is, yes,
and maybe that is why they chose that case to
prosecute him with, because he was of age to be
considered or to be eligible for the death penalty.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Well, folks, as you have been listening to us in
this episode, it is quite possible that Frank Athan Walls
has been declared dead. Usually lethal injection doesn't take that long.
We have seen some cases where it's taking up to
maybe twenty minutes before an official declaration of death, but
these often do go fairly quickly. Now, this would be
(14:27):
the forty seventh execution in the United States this year.
That's the most we've seen since two thousand and nine.
This is the forty seventh of the year. It's possible
we could still see a forty eighth before the new year.
We'll explain. Stay here, Welcome back, folks to this episode
(14:58):
of Amy and TJ. No matter what we talk about
justice for a family, but it's just it's a solemn
evening and experience and the thoughts of what takes place
to have a an execution. There as steps that have
to take place, but we are as a country, we
are as a community officially sanctioning this person's death, and
(15:22):
it's just you know, it's life is life, and I
get it, and this is the punishment is there and
it's legal. It just always makes you stop and reflect. Yes,
by what we do is just always heavy.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
It's heavy. It's a solemn event, it's a solemn occasion,
and it marks closure for a lot of families. It
marks justice for a lot of folks. But it's controversial, obviously.
It's something you can't take back, it's not something you
can undo. And it is clearly an eye for an eye,
(15:54):
which a lot of folks just simply disagree with on
a moral level that that's not how we should operate.
We should, yes, make sure someone this evil Frank Athan
Walls clearly evil. I don't think that's even up for
discussion truly at this point. To be a teenaged serial killer,
to have murdered five people before the age of twenty
(16:14):
for no apparent reason other than your own personal rage
within you and lack of complete self control. But he
never needs to see the light of day. He never
needs to ever be out in the public obviously. But
his life ends today, and for some of his surviving
(16:36):
family members of the victims of his are are happy
to see this day com finally eventually.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
If that gives them peace today, then God bless them.
That's just he wiped out and changed, he altered generations
of family he did. That's something to think of, how
he how he went about this. And these are young
folks that he killed.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Some of the women were so yeah, and so yes,
every really everyone other than Audrey Gigee, who was forty seven.
Everyone else was in their twenties, were they.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Not twenty two, twenty four? And the first one was nineteen.
So again, folks, we say the country has been a
lot of executions this year, forty seven, that's the most
in two thousand and nine robes. There's still a possibility
up until at least Christmas Eve that we could see
a forty eighth. We've been talking about, folks, what we're
seeing in Georgia, where there was an execution scheduled for Tuesday,
(17:28):
but the state Parole Board halted that while he tried
to get some issues worked out and Rolls, I'm not
sure if they're trying to get this worked out because
the death warrant, the clock is ticking.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
It's unclear. So the death warrant goes, as you said,
through Christmas Eve. The problem is, every person on death
row is given and I guess it's their legal right
to have a clemency hearing right before their scheduled execution,
and so he had a scheduled clemency hearing this week.
(18:01):
The problem was two of the members on this Board
of Pardons and Parrol that it's a five member board.
He would have to have three people vote in favor
of clemency for him to get a stay of execution.
Will two of the five have conflicts of interest because
they were involved in some way, form or fashion in
his case at the time, So one recused herself, the
(18:25):
other said, okay, fine, I'll step aside. And now his
attorneys were arguing he deserves to be able, his case
should be able to be heard by five. The problem
is they're not taking these people off the board. You
can't add someone to the board. So they're kind of
at an impasse right now. What did they do? What's
legally correct, what's morally correct? Who knows how they're going
(18:48):
to figure it out, but they don't have much time.
It's not just that it's Christmas Eve. It's the holidays and.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Everybody's out of town. Everybody wants to do something else.
Certain they don't want to be dealing with this. And
I can't imagine if they do a Christmas Eve execution.
That's not happening.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
That doesn't seem right possible.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
So it would have to be much sooner now. If
the death warn't expires, they can get another one next year.
But it doesn't appear they can get this worked out
in time. So maybe we'll stop at forty seven for
the year and won't get to forty eight. But my goodness,
Florida nineteen executions this year, previous record with eight. Desantas
ain't messing around that now.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
No, he isn't in Florida. I guess Georgia might have
to take a page out of his his playbook if
they're trying to at least get their ducks in a row.
But DeSantis, he was. He was dotting all those eyes
and crossing all those t's, and he has not backed down.
I wouldn't. He's one that if you're on death row,
(19:42):
you're not getting a stay of execution in the state
of Florida from DeSantis. He's made that very clear.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Don't bother to type that letter.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Don't even the phone could be off the hook, it's
not going to ring at the last second. I think
we feel very confident in that Florida no need.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Oh my goodness, folks, Well, we always appreciate you, and
it's been a hell of a year with these executions,
but we always appreciate you spending some time and having
these discussions with us. We have actually learned a lot
this year, I would say rogues. So, folks, we will
talk to you soon on behalf of my dear Amy Robot.
I'm TJ. Hawks.
Hey there, folks. It is Thursday, December eighteenth, and as
we're putting this episode out, a man in Florida is
being escorted to a death chamber. He is going to
be placed on a gurney, he is going to be
strapped in needles are going to be placed in his arms,
and the state of Florida is going to execute what
(00:23):
is now the nineteenth inmate of the year, far far
surpassing its previous record. Welcome to this episode of Amy
and TJ and Romes. I mentioned that, and this is
scheduled to be the last execution of the year, but
strangely enough, we'll get into why it might not be.
And just an execution night is always a solemn.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Night, it is, and the details surrounding what this man
was convicted of and what he's admitted to are especially horrific. Obviously,
anyone on death row has admitted the worst of the
worst crimes, but this one actually blew my mind when
I started reading the details. I didn't even know. Honestly,
(01:07):
I haven't even ever heard of a teenage serial killer,
but that's what this man was.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
And strangely enough, there was so much distance between tonight
his execution night and the night of the first murder
he ever committed. And we are talking about forty years ago.
This has been forty years almost that he has been
on death row to get to this point. Is this
(01:36):
justice anymore? Everybody involved in the case is dead. Yeah,
family members, a lot of stuff.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
As we were researching this, it said so many of
the victim's family members who were seeking justice, who were
there at the trial, who were pushing for this to
come to fruition, have all passed away. So one of
the family members who will talk about who is speaking out,
was two at the time of the murders. That's how
(02:04):
much time has passed. Four decades has passed since he
began his murder spring.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
And it was her grandmother, the two year all you're
talking about. So we will get into that, but we'll
tell you where we are tonight, folks. Again, as we're
putting this episode out, six o'clock Eastern time is when
the lethal injection execution is to take place for Frank
Athan Walls, a fifty eight year old man who, as
you said, Robes, was involved in what at the time
(02:34):
were called the Tuesday murders, but he committed what helped
me with my account, five murders, five essentially between the
ages of seventeen and nineteen, all before the age of twenty.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
I've never heard of that before. And this all took
place in the Panhandle of Florida between yes nineteen eighty
five and nineteen eighty seven, And the man who was
the sheriff at the time said those two years in
that county, in Okahoosa County, it was sheer terror. People
were afraid because he was choosing people at random. These
(03:11):
weren't people who had done anything to him, who he
had any relationship to or with. And it's just mind
blowing to think someone that young could be that vicious
and that evil and that cruel. That is actually beyond
shocking to me.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Well, it says again Frank Athan Walls. He is being
executed tonight for the conviction in a double murder in
nineteen eighty seven. However, after he was caught and convicted
of that, he ends up making a deal in which
he is admitting to three other murders of women. Those murders,
(03:49):
all of them between the years of eighty five and
eighty seven, again all before he was the age of twenty.
This was just a bizarre detail, and they called him
the Tuesday murders.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
At the time, Yeah, I had never heard of this,
but again, it maybe makes a lot of sense because
it's not been in the headlines recently because it's been
so long. I actually was looking at some stories that
were written ten years ago and they were all kind
of a gas that he had been on death row
for thirty years and they were trying to get his
execution date set. That was ten years ago. So, yes,
(04:19):
Tuesday murders. All of the murders happened on a Tuesday
or overnight Tuesday, so the victims might have been found
on Wednesday, but it seemed as though he was killing
people on Tuesdays Tuesday night.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
See anything or what was the Was this just a
coincidence or there was some theory behind why it lined
up that way?
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Who knows. But obviously, if you've been slightly obsessed with
serial killers and they usually have patterns, they usually leave
some sort of earmark. They'll either take some sort of
a trophy, or they'll do something to kind of almost
leave their signature or their stamp on a murder to
kind of almost take credit for it, so police know, Yeah, guys,
(05:00):
it's me again, and so it would read with what
you hear about other serial killers doing. There is some planning,
there's some method to their madness. We might not be
able to get in their brains. But it seems odd
that it would just be random. It sounds like it
was something he chose. It sounds like something he did deliberately.
That was his mark. I'll do it on a Tuesday.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Well, in nineteen eighty seven, on a Tuesday, here a
double murder. This is when he broke into the home
of a couple that was sleeping. This was a twenty
two year old and a twenty year old couple. The man,
Edgar Alger, happened to be an airman's a US Service member.
These folks pretty vicious here. The woman and Louise Peterson
was shot two times. The man he had his throat
(05:44):
slashed and was shot three times. Again. No rhyme or
reason or why these folks, why this house, why this night.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
It might have been a crime of opportunity, but they
I was reading the details of this attack and look
Edward Alger. It just it's heartbreaking when you hear about this.
You put yourself in that place at that time, And
they said he fought like hell. He fought like hell,
and so as even when his throat was slashed, he
was fighting back and pushing and punching, and that's when
(06:15):
he went ahead and shot him. They said his mo
the Tuesday killer, Frank Athan Wall, preferred to use a knife,
and so he started out with a knife. But because
things got heated and Edward Alger wasn't going down without
a major fight, he ended up shooting him. But his
method or his weapon of choice in these murders was
(06:35):
a knife.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
And to that point, the person he ends up admitting
to killing prior to killing this couple, the scariest part
you just mentioned the share was talking about how they
were terrorized. The woman he admitted to killing. That killing
had been two months prior and a block away from
where he had killed the couple.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Yes, this was Audrey Geege. She was forty seven years
old and she was stabbed to death at her home
and she had children and actually grandchildren. And we will
read you her granddaughter's statement because it's very powerful and
speaks to where these family members who are still alive
are in this journey that they have been on for
(07:20):
four decades. But she and just think about the hole
that leaves in a family. And she was just forty
seven years old, so young, but again random. He had
no connection to her. There was no reason why he
needed to break into her home and stab her to death.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
And the killing he admitted to from the previous year,
nineteen eighty six, woman by the name of Cynthia Sue Condra,
twenty four years old, another young lady stabbed a twenty
one times.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Twenty one time.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
This was vicious and I read somewhere he had no
rhyme or reason. He explained kind of a way. He
just has these fits of rage sometimes that overcome him.
He in trying to explain some of his behavior, which
it seems like robes. He didn't have answers either. But
this is some This is some vicious stuff. In every
single one of these, it's something horrific. And the first
(08:10):
one he admitted to in nineteen eighty five, this is
another one that just you're like Jesus.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
She was lying out in the sun, sunbathing in her bikini.
This was in March of nineteen eighty five. She was
just nineteen years old, so he was seventeen at the time.
She was nineteen. Just can you I think about this.
Oh my goodness, my daughters loved doing this. Laying out
in the sun, you're closing your eyes, maybe you have
music playing. You are not thinking for one second you're
(08:38):
in any danger in the middle of the day, sunbathing.
But he admitted to raping her and slashing her throat,
and that was the first murder. Although he was never
convicted in that, he admitted to it as part of
a plea deal to avoid a second death penalty conviction.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Yeah, so an avoiding a trial. But yeah, idea, it's possible.
I was asking you, but it was possible. He was
facing a double death penalty in some of these, so
that's why the deals were made.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Back.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
I just that's tough roles when you talk about justice.
A conviction, okay, is one thing, but the punishment hasn't
been carried out. It's almost it sounds crazy, but if
someone has been convicted of a crime and they get
twenty years in prison, but they get to stay at
home before they get to go to jail, that's what
(09:29):
is like. The sentence hasn't really been carried out until
the death penalty is carried out, and to wait forty
years for essentially what he was is supposed to be
his punishment, correct.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
And so look, wherever you stand on the death penalty,
this is wrong. This is wrong because if you are
if you're going to have a sentence of death, then
that sentence should be carried out. Yes, somebody has to
have the opportunity to appeal it and all of that.
So fine, I understand there has to some period of
time where there's a fair appeals process in place. But
(10:04):
forty years and look, we've said this and it has
been noted and studied. The death penalty is not a
deterrent for criminals. First of all, no one thinks they're
going to get caught. But also in the system we're in,
a lot of them might think, yeah, but I'm still
going to have thirty years before I'm actually going to
be put to death, so I'll be able to appeal it,
(10:26):
I'll be able to overturn it. It doesn't feel as
frightening because it's so delayed. We're not just talking a
couple of years or even a couple decades. Forty This
is not the first time we have seen forty years
go by.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
You were telling me there have been a couple more.
I remember the thirty seven. But this is just nobody. Again,
Like you said, no matter how you feel about it,
through forty years is too long for any family to
have to wait for justice to be carried out. We
did mention a family member. Some are speaking again with
so many I think I saw that a husband and
(11:03):
I think two kids of one of the victims has
actually passed away since so they weren't around to see
this day. But the granddaughter, who was two years old
at the time, probably no memory of grandma. But she
was two years old at the time, and she is
still fighting for her family. I applaud that I do too.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Can you imagine she probably, I mean, obviously, she grew
up with this story. She grew up knowing this. This
was I'm sure a huge hole in her family, and
she felt that even though she doesn't remember her grandmother,
I'm sure she sees pictures and has heard all the stories.
So yeah, she's passionate about this, and so she told
(11:41):
She told a local reporter, I am going to have
a drink and toast to my grandma and close that chapter.
She's probably pouring her drink right now as you listen
to this.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
I didn't get word of who was attending. I don't
know if any family members of the victims would be
in attendance, but it's always interesting to hear and oftentimes
they don't want to be there, and oftentimes they we've
seen plenty that don't want the executions to go forward.
This is not that case.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
No, no, this this is something that at least we're here,
and honestly, like you said, so many of the people
affected and impacted by his murder spree, by his violence
are no longer here. So we just have heard from
this granddaughter and I understand. Look, we have been very
(12:31):
outspoken about certain death penalty cases and concerns about guilt
or innocence. This one is not that case. And this
one is just so evil and so unexplained and so concerning.
If he wasn't caught, assuredly he would have continued, well wow,
there was nothing stopping him.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
But what do they get? I mean, defendants, right, people
arrested have a right to a speedy trial? Or is
there no right to a speedy justice? Is there? Know?
Why is anybody having to wait forty years for this
to be carried out?
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yes, and he tried very like diligently through his attorneys
to not die. He is fighting his death sentence. He
has said he's mentally disabled. But then again I was
reading he apparently told some jail worker that he was
faking it, that he was faking being mentally insufficient so
that he could get off of the death penalty, like
(13:27):
deliberately failing as IQ test, et cetera, et cetera. So anyway,
no one was buying it. It wasn't that he tried,
and his attorneys tried to get a stay of execution
up until the last few days, citing all sorts of things,
but among them that he's mentally disabled and the fact
that he was nineteen years old when he was convicted
or seventeen when he committed his first murder, but he
(13:49):
was convicted on the murder he committed, I believe when
he was eighteen or nineteen, And that's where the rule is, yes,
and maybe that is why they chose that case to
prosecute him with, because he was of age to be
considered or to be eligible for the death penalty.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Well, folks, as you have been listening to us in
this episode, it is quite possible that Frank Athan Walls
has been declared dead. Usually lethal injection doesn't take that long.
We have seen some cases where it's taking up to
maybe twenty minutes before an official declaration of death, but
these often do go fairly quickly. Now, this would be
(14:27):
the forty seventh execution in the United States this year.
That's the most we've seen since two thousand and nine.
This is the forty seventh of the year. It's possible
we could still see a forty eighth before the new year.
We'll explain. Stay here, Welcome back, folks to this episode
(14:58):
of Amy and TJ. No matter what we talk about
justice for a family, but it's just it's a solemn
evening and experience and the thoughts of what takes place
to have a an execution. There as steps that have
to take place, but we are as a country, we
are as a community officially sanctioning this person's death, and
(15:22):
it's just you know, it's life is life, and I
get it, and this is the punishment is there and
it's legal. It just always makes you stop and reflect. Yes,
by what we do is just always heavy.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
It's heavy. It's a solemn event, it's a solemn occasion,
and it marks closure for a lot of families. It
marks justice for a lot of folks. But it's controversial, obviously.
It's something you can't take back, it's not something you
can undo. And it is clearly an eye for an eye,
(15:54):
which a lot of folks just simply disagree with on
a moral level that that's not how we should operate.
We should, yes, make sure someone this evil Frank Athan
Walls clearly evil. I don't think that's even up for
discussion truly at this point. To be a teenaged serial killer,
to have murdered five people before the age of twenty
(16:14):
for no apparent reason other than your own personal rage
within you and lack of complete self control. But he
never needs to see the light of day. He never
needs to ever be out in the public obviously. But
his life ends today, and for some of his surviving
(16:36):
family members of the victims of his are are happy
to see this day com finally eventually.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
If that gives them peace today, then God bless them.
That's just he wiped out and changed, he altered generations
of family he did. That's something to think of, how
he how he went about this. And these are young
folks that he killed.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Some of the women were so yeah, and so yes,
every really everyone other than Audrey Gigee, who was forty seven.
Everyone else was in their twenties, were they.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Not twenty two, twenty four? And the first one was nineteen.
So again, folks, we say the country has been a
lot of executions this year, forty seven, that's the most
in two thousand and nine robes. There's still a possibility
up until at least Christmas Eve that we could see
a forty eighth. We've been talking about, folks, what we're
seeing in Georgia, where there was an execution scheduled for Tuesday,
(17:28):
but the state Parole Board halted that while he tried
to get some issues worked out and Rolls, I'm not
sure if they're trying to get this worked out because
the death warrant, the clock is ticking.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
It's unclear. So the death warrant goes, as you said,
through Christmas Eve. The problem is, every person on death
row is given and I guess it's their legal right
to have a clemency hearing right before their scheduled execution,
and so he had a scheduled clemency hearing this week.
(18:01):
The problem was two of the members on this Board
of Pardons and Parrol that it's a five member board.
He would have to have three people vote in favor
of clemency for him to get a stay of execution.
Will two of the five have conflicts of interest because
they were involved in some way, form or fashion in
his case at the time, So one recused herself, the
(18:25):
other said, okay, fine, I'll step aside. And now his
attorneys were arguing he deserves to be able, his case
should be able to be heard by five. The problem
is they're not taking these people off the board. You
can't add someone to the board. So they're kind of
at an impasse right now. What did they do? What's
legally correct, what's morally correct? Who knows how they're going
(18:48):
to figure it out, but they don't have much time.
It's not just that it's Christmas Eve. It's the holidays and.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Everybody's out of town. Everybody wants to do something else.
Certain they don't want to be dealing with this. And
I can't imagine if they do a Christmas Eve execution.
That's not happening.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
That doesn't seem right possible.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
So it would have to be much sooner now. If
the death warn't expires, they can get another one next year.
But it doesn't appear they can get this worked out
in time. So maybe we'll stop at forty seven for
the year and won't get to forty eight. But my goodness,
Florida nineteen executions this year, previous record with eight. Desantas
ain't messing around that now.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
No, he isn't in Florida. I guess Georgia might have
to take a page out of his his playbook if
they're trying to at least get their ducks in a row.
But DeSantis, he was. He was dotting all those eyes
and crossing all those t's, and he has not backed down.
I wouldn't. He's one that if you're on death row,
(19:42):
you're not getting a stay of execution in the state
of Florida from DeSantis. He's made that very clear.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Don't bother to type that letter.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Don't even the phone could be off the hook, it's
not going to ring at the last second. I think
we feel very confident in that Florida no need.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Oh my goodness, folks, Well, we always appreciate you, and
it's been a hell of a year with these executions,
but we always appreciate you spending some time and having
these discussions with us. We have actually learned a lot
this year, I would say rogues. So, folks, we will
talk to you soon on behalf of my dear Amy Robot.
I'm TJ. Hawks.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Betrayal: Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a brand new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack. And make sure to check out Seasons 1-4 of Betrayal, along with Betrayal Weekly Season 1.