Woman who married death row killer explains how their relationship began and why it's not 'delusional'
A British woman who married a convicted double murderer on death row has opened up on their relationship.
James Broadnax was executed in Texas in April this year after being convicted in 2009 of fatally shooting two music producers, Stephen Swan and Matthew Butler, outside of their recording studio the year before.
However, despite the fact he was on death row for over a decade, Broadnax managed to get engaged and married to Tiana Krasniqi, a receptionist from London.
Speaking on ITV's This Morning ahead of his scheduled execution, Tiana said she met the prisoner whilst looking into racial disparities on Texas' death row for her Master's degree.
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She has since explained to UNILAD the excitement of finally hearing his voice before eventually meeting him.
"It was exciting," she said, detailing his 'Southern Texan accent'.
According to Tiana, Broadnax 'was so careful the way he spoke, never cursed' and 'was so respectful.'
She went on to say of their developing feelings following their call: "About four months later, I caught myself refreshing my emails and smiling a little harder and it hit me, 'Uh-oh, you're catching feelings.' And at that same time, he had told me he had caught feelings as well. He told me that there was feelings involved and that he never thought that this would happen."
She said he had told her they needed to have 'boundaries' between them because of the unconventional way they were meeting, and after three days of mulling things over, she revealed she finally responded to him.
She said of her thoughts during that time: "If I don't try it, then I'll never know. And if I have to deal with the grief of it, at least I know I fought hard."
So, Tiana said they decided to 'try'.
Six months later the pair would meet in person, with her revealing she was 'stressed out' because her 'skirt was wrinkled'.
She explained that when she arrived at the prison, her car and belongings were searched, leaving her asking herself: "What the heck have I done to myself? What are you doing?"
However, she said when she got there and met him, he was equally as 'nervous' about it all.
"He was so nervous and so emotional and I was so nervous and so emotional, I cried and he just smiled," she said. "It was a four-hour visit and got his food and we just sat there and spoke and it was just like, 'Oh my God, I can't believe this is happening.'"
Despite their short-lived romance, Tiana says she's not 'delusional' about her love.
She said her marriage to the inmate was 'sweet, cute' and that 'some people think it's delusional, crazy, desperate, whatever, that's fine.'
"But the whole point here is bringing awareness to what is really happening in the death penalty
community," she said. "The misconception of if you're convicted in death row, then you must have done it. You are a horrible person. People need to stop and question why are there so many wrongful convictions?"
She added: "Texas has executed 600 people since it was reinstated. My husband is the 599th person. That's the dream is that James Broadnax, my husband, is the drive to stop the death penalty."
Britt Jones