Woman marrying convicted murderer on death row opens up about their relationship
A British woman marrying a convicted double murderer who's on death row has opened up on the relationship she has with her husband-to-be.
James Broadnax is set to be executed in Texas later this month after being convicted in 2009 of fatally shooting two music producers, Stephen Swan and Matthew Butler, who were killed outside their recording studio in 2008.
Despite being on death row for over a decade, Broadnax is engaged to Tiana Krasniqi, a receptionist from London, and the pair are set to tie the knot on Tuesday (April 14).
Speaking on ITV's This Morning on Monday (April 13), Tiana revealed she fell for Broadnax after looking into racial disparities on Texas' death row for her Master's degree in international human rights law.
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The Brit reached out to the convicted murderer and the pair almost instantly fell for each other.
"I know a lot of people would say, 'You haven't spent a day or a night with him' but you speak to somebody every single day for six, seven hours a day," she told hosts Ben Shepard and Cat Deeley.
"So you kind of go through the ups and downs, but other than that, it's just his personality and who he is as a person. And just, believe it or not, he does have a moral compass in a way and his integrity into things. But very quickly, yeah, it happened about a few months later."
Tiana never expected romance to be on the cards when she contacted Broadnax, but quickly fell in the love with the man who she describes as 'very respectful and intelligent'.
She continued: "It was never something where you go on there and be like, 'Hi, we want to, let's be in a relationship.' He pretty much said to me, 'Look, I just got denied from the Supreme Court, so I'm not looking for anything.
"And I said, 'I'm not either, because it's not realistic with the idea of this conversation.' And it was just purely, 'Let's just be friends, if anything.'"
Tiara interacts with Broadnax through a glass screen and has never actually touched her partner in the flesh. However, they are set to marry in a ceremony this week, which will also see the death row inmate behind glass.
"Texas has a very strict rule about no contact with death row inmates," she added on This Morning. "It's a very quick 20-minute ceremony. You have an officiant, you say your vows, and that's it, and it's time to go."
Tiara went on to say her family are 'not happy' about her relationship with Broadnax and that she hasn't heard from her nearest and dearest since moving to the US to be with her soon husband.
Callum Jones