Who is Brandon Bernard and what did he do?
BRANDON Bernard has been sentenced to death for a crime he committed in 1999. Kim Kardashian is backing a campaign to stop his execution which is scheduled to take place in December 2020. Who is Brandon Bernard? Texas man Brandon Bernard, 40, is an inmate scheduled for death penalty at Terre Haute, Indiana. He was […]
BRANDON Bernard has been sentenced to death for a crime he committed in 1999.
Kim Kardashian is backing a campaign to stop his execution which is scheduled to take place in December 2020.
Who is Brandon Bernard?
Texas man Brandon Bernard, 40, is an inmate scheduled for death penalty at Terre Haute, Indiana.
He was involved in the killing of two youth ministers in 1999.
Campaigners say that, at the time of his conviction, both prosecutors and jurors had an incomplete picture of Bernard and his background.
What did Brandon Bernard do?
Bernard was convicted with four others over the killing of couple Todd and Stacie Bagley in Killen, Texas, in 1999.
He was only 18 years old at the time of the crime and did not have a leading role in it, attorneys say.
The group, all teenagers at the time, held the Bagleys at gunpoint and robbed them before shooting them.
They then placed their bodies in the trunk of their car and torched it.
A federal jury found Bernard guilty in 2000 of two counts of murder.
He was then placed on death row and his execution is scheduled to take place in December 2020 – 21 years after the crime.
When will Brandon Bernard be executed?
Bernard was sentenced to death in June 2000, when he was still a teenager.
He is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on December 10, 2020.
One of Bernard’s co-defendants, Christopher Vialva, was executed on September 22.
Vialva was 19 at the time of the murders.
An attorney acting in Bernard’s defence hasasked a judge to postpone his execution on the grounds that mitigating evidence had not been presented to the court at his trial in 2000.
If the request is not granted, Bernard’s death sentence is set to be carried out on December 10.
Why is Kim Kardashian campaigning to stop Brandon Bernard’s execution?
Kim Kardashian, who has secured the release of almost two dozen prisoners, asked her 67.7million followers to back the campaign to stop Bernard’s execution.
She said she is backing it because of Bernard’s minor role in the crime.
Kim called for Bernard to serve a life sentence rather than be put to death.
She said: “A terrible case has been brought to my attention and I need your help.
“First, I want to say that a terrible crime was committed and me fighting for a stay of execution does not take away from the sympathy I have for the victim’s Todd and Stacie Bagley, and their families.
“My heart breaks for everyone involved.
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“While Brandon did participate in this crime, his role was minor compared to that of the other teens involved, two of whom are home from prison now.”
Kardashian said that, after shooting the Bagleys, the gunman turned to Bernard and told him to light the car and help destroy the evidence.
“Brandon believed both were dead, though Stacie was not, and was fearful for his own life, so he made the terrible decision to comply.”