I Am A Killer

TransistorFilms’ Danny Tipping, Ned ParkerandZoe Hines joined podcast producer Sam Pearson for a special live interview at the first CrimeCon UK in September 2021. Here they discuss how they tell compelling yet balanced true crime stories alongside how they created the series hailed by critics as true crime at its most ’brutal, captivating and unsettling.’You can find out more about CrimeCon UK by searching online or social media, and watch more from the event on Crime+Investigation's YouTube channel.This special bonus episode of the I Am A Killer podcast was produced and hosted by Sam Pearson. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ep 10. In 1995, 18-year-old Joshua Nelson and 16-year-old co-defendant Keith Brennan were charged with the murder of their friend Tommy Owens in Cape Coral, Florida. Nelson told investigators that they had decided to kill Tommy so that that they could steal his car and escape from their troubled home lives. Although Joshua Nelson was sentenced to death in November 1996, Keith Brennan avoided a death sentence due to his age. Nelson remains on Death Row more than 20 years after his conviction and has now spent more than half of his life on Death Row. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ep 9. In 1990, 19-year-old Robert Shafer and 16-year-old David Steinmeyer handed themselves into police in St Charles, Missouri and confessed to the killings of two men; Dennis Young and Jerry Parker. Shafer and Steinmeyer claimed at first that they had hitched a ride with the victims who they claimed attacked them and that they killed in self-defence. However, two years later, in July 1992, Robert Shafer confessed to killing both men and requested the death penalty. Despite having requested the death penalty, just three weeks after arriving on death row, Shafer sought the help of an attorney to appeal his sentencing. Eventually in 2004 he succeeded in his appeal after it was ruled that he wasn’t mentally able to comprehend the consequences of representing himself in 1993. He is currently serving a life sentence. David Steinmeyer received a 12-and-a-half-year sentence for his part in the crime. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ep 8. In 1998, Charles Thompson handed himself into police in Houston, Texas, for the shooting of his former girlfriend, Denise Hayslip, and her new partner Darren Cain. Both had allegedly been shot during a fight at Hayslip's home. Cain was shot dead at the scene while Denise Hayslip, who according to Thompson had been accidentally hit in the jaw with a bullet, was taken to hospital for treatment. Thompson was initially charged with one count of manslaughter and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. However, when Denise Hayslip died in hospital six days later Thompson's charges were upgraded to double murder - a capital charge for which he faced the prospect of a death sentence. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ep 7. In March 1997 Wayne Doty shot his colleague, Harvey Horne II, five times in the face over what Doty claimed was a dispute about drugs. Doty was given life in prison but 14 years later killed again. While in prison Doty tricked fellow inmate Xavier Rodriguez into being tied up before strangling him unconscious and then stabbing him 23 times. At his trial Doty represented himself encouraging the jury to sentence him to death, which they duly did. In October 2015, four years after his sentencing, Doty became the first Florida death row inmate to request the electric chair. Today, he remains on death row but only following a resentencing, which occurred during the filming of this documentary. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ep 6. On November 7th 2000, Deandra Buchanan was arrested for killing Angela Brown, the mother of Buchanan’s two infant daughters, his step-father and his aunt. Buchanan claimed he had smoked a joint which had been laced with an unknown drug and that he had subsequently become convinced that everybody at the party were attempting to kill him.He was sentenced to death on April 22, 2002, then resentenced to life in prison without parole on September 30, 2003. Buchanan is currently serving a life sentence, although he is actively trying to appeal his case with the hope of being given a reduced sentence. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ep 5. In 1986, while undertaking the burglary of a house, David Lewis was surprised by the return of the homeowner, 74-year-old Myrtle Ruby, fired a gun and shot her dead. US Federal law prohibits States from executing the mentally disabled, which is defined as somebody with an IQ score of below 70. David Lewis’ IQ score has been officially recorded at ‘between 71 and 85’ meaning he is classified as “borderline” mentally impaired. His defence argued alternative testing methods declared his IQ was lower than 70. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ep 4. In 1991 three men, were murdered as they slept by 17- year- old Miguel Martinez and 16-year -old Miguel Venegas. In April 1992 Martinez was tried for capital murder and became the youngest person to be sent to Texas' death row. Despite his role in the murders, Venegas' was 16 at the time, which meant he would not face the death penalty. Instead he accepted a plea deal and a 41-year prison sentence.Watch ten-part true crime documentary series #IAmAKiller Tuesdays at 9pmThe I Am A Killer podcast is an A+E Networks Uk production for Crime + Investigation, and is hosted by Tom Adams and Danny Tipping, produced by Steph Nardilli and Sam Pearson, and edited by Susanna Lawrence See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ep 3. In May 1995, 17-year-old Justin Dickens attempted to rob the Mockingbird Pawn and Jewellery Store in Amarillo, Texas. Whilst attempting the robbery Dickens shot and killed Francis ‘Allen’ Carter. Dickens has always claimed that the gun fired accidentally when Carter, a school teacher and Vietnam veteran, had attempted to wrestle the gun from him. However, at trial, Prosecutor James Farren painted a very different picture.Watch ten-part true crime documentary series #IAmAKiller Tuesdays at 9pmThe I Am A Killer podcast is an A+E Networks Uk production for Crime + Investigation, and is hosted by Tom Adams and Danny Tipping, produced by Steph Nardilli and Sam Pearson, and edited by Susanna Lawrence See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ep 2. James Robertson wants to die on death row. A lifetime long criminal who first went to jail for robbery and attempted assault when he was 16, he has spent his time in prison committing a string of violent crimes that by 2008 culminated in a rap sheet totalling more than 100 years of prison time owed to the state.Watch ten-part true crime documentary series #IAmAKiller Tuesdays at 9pmThe I Am A Killer podcast is an A+E Networks Uk production for Crime + Investigation, and is hosted by Tom Adams and Danny Tipping, produced by Steph Nardilli and Sam Pearson, and edited by Susanna Lawrence See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.