INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS: DEAD KID WALKING (TV)
Summary
One in this documentary series, this episode examines the case of Sean Sellers, an Oklahoma man put to death for three murders he committed in 1985 at the age of sixteen. A great deal of controversy surrounds Sellers's case, which shuttled through the courts for thirteen years before his execution took place in 1999. The controversy stems from the 1988 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows for the execution of violent criminals aged sixteen and up. Some people feel that the ruling contradicts general international standards of civil and human rights. Sellers's public defender, Bob Ravitz, argues that at the time of the murders, Sellers was a confused teen obsessed with Satanism; therefore, he should not be held entirely accountable for his actions. District Attorney Bob Macy counters that the way that Sellers coldly murdered a store clerk and carefully planned the killing of both his parents points to dangerous adult thinking and behavior. Sellers's attorney, Steve Presson, describes the conditions in the maximum security prison, and Sellers's spiritual advisor, Margy Paoletti, echoes Sellers's testimonies of the dramatic changes he has undergone in prison as a born-again Christian. Then there is a discussion of Sellers's 1992 diagnosis of multiple personality disorder, which could have been used to spare his life had it been discovered earlier. Footage follows of Sellers's clemency hearing. After Presson and a juror from Sellers's initial trial argue on his behalf, Sellers is given twenty minutes to present his case. He asks for the opportunity to help other young people struggling with spiritual crises. Sellers's stepsister Noelle Bellofatto and stepaunt Jennifer Bellofatto Campola are among those arguing in favor of Sellers's execution. The five-member parole board immediately votes to deny clemency, and board members Flynt Breckenridge and Governor Frank Keating defend their positions. Next, seven family members of the victims, and Sellers's friends, including Presson and Paoletti, prepare for the execution. Scenes follow of Sellers's final hours, and of the reactions of those witnessing the execution. The program concludes with closing remarks by Bill Kurtis, and previews of the next episode titled "Anti-Gay Hate Crimes." Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: A&E
- DATE: July 5, 1999 Monday 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:46:43
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:57448
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Capital punishment; Criminal justice, administration of; She Made It Collection (Abbe Raven)
- SERIES RUN: A&E - TV series, 1993-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Michael Cascio … Executive Producer
- Bill Kurtis … Executive Producer
- Laura Fleury … Coordinating Producer
- Matthew J. Vogel … Coordinating Producer
- Pamela Wolfe … Supervising Producer
- Nicole Ewing … Supervising Producer
- Bill Treharne Jones … Producer
- Michelle Crane … Producer, Writer
- John Thynne … Assistant Producer
- Lucy Hetherington … Series Producer
- Nick Dodd … Researcher, Film Research
- Anna Makowiecka … Researcher, Film Research
- Bill Kurtis … Host
- Edward Stourton … Reporter
- Noelle Bellofatto
- Flynt Breckenridge
- Jennifer Bellofatto Campola
- Frank Keating
- Bob Macy
- Margy Paoletti
- Steve Presson
- Bob Ravitz
- Sean Sellers