Gavin Newsom reveals the tragic death row case that caused him to commute sentences for 548 prisoners

Gavin Newsom has shared more insight into why he decided to change all death row inmates' sentences in California to life imprisonment instead.

Last week it was announced that the California governor was pardoning all 548 death row inmates in the state.

Part of a letter penned by the Newsom, dated November 5, read: "My decision today comes after nearly three decades of openly opposing state-sanctioned executions as an elected official. Soon after taking office as Governor of California, on March 13, 2019, I instituted a moratorium on executions.

"I could not remain true to my values and oversee the killing of people with death warrants in California. My action formalized the de facto moratorium on executions in place since 2006, the last year California executed anyone.

"While the moratorium has prevented any further executions, it left all death sentences in place. The 548 people now under sentence of death in California make up the largest death row in the Western Hemisphere."

Gavin Newsom has commuted the death sentences of all 548 inmates on the California's death row (David Swanson / AFP via Getty Images)

Now he's recalled a harrowing conversation he had with Jess and Annie Nichol, the step-sisters of 12-year-old Polly Klaas who was kidnapped and murdered by Richard Allen Davis in 1993. Annie was just six years old at the time of Polly's death, while Jess was 12.

Davis had been handed the death penalty, but Newsom's recent decision means he will no longer be executed as planned.

Newsom said to the San Francisco Chronicle about meeting with the Nichol sisters in late October: "It was really, to me, one of the most profound and outsize meetings that I've had. Not just on this topic."

They were stood inside a former death row cell at the time of their discussions, where they told Newsom that not all victims' families view capital punishment as the best antidote to grief.

A 1993 missing poster at the time of Polly Klaas' kidnapping in 1993 (James Keyser/Getty Images)

The prison they met Newsom was where their step-sister's killer had been housed for 30 years. Jess said of this: "It's former death row, which was weird for us. The man who killed our sister lived there for 30 years."

Annie and Jess are said to be in favor of Newsom's decision to commute the death sentences of more than 500 inmates in California.

"There’s a relief in knowing the state is stepping away from another death in Polly’s name," Annie told the newspaper.

As well has Jess and Annie, Newsom met with Polly's father, Marc Klaas, back in 2019 around the time of he signed an executive order which put a moratorium on the death penalty in California.

Polly's father Marc Klaas pictured in 1996 (Kim Komenich/Getty Images)

Newsom said that he told Jess and Annie that his conversation with the grieving father 'stuck with [him]'.

He contineud to recall to the San Francisco Chronicle: "And then one of the daughters looked at me, she looked me in the eye, and she said, 'Then don’t ever forget what we just said to you, and that sticks with you as long as his comments stuck with you.'"

Newsom added: "That moment, for me, I was almost freed. It was spiritual."

If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact The Compassionate Friends on (877) 969-0010.