I'm a Death Row psychologist and was left terrified after one inmate revealed his plot to me
Kiesha Dosanjh
Featured Image Credit: Bill Kimberlin
A death row psychologist who has a 'unique relationship' with hundreds of inmates awaiting execution was left holding his breath after he realized he was part of one prisoner's plan to avoid losing their life.
Bill Kimberlin has attended a number of executions after one prisoner requested his presence, and as a result he's become very familiar with the whole process. But one experience in particular left him shaking in his boots.
Kimberlin was sat down eating a 'last meal' with one of the inmates just days before his execution, when the prisoner turned to him and said: "I've been thinking that if I killed one more person, if I killed somebody like today right now, then they can't execute me, right?
"Because they have to take me to trial," the inmate added, which he said was going to 'take years'.
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In the United States, inmates typically spend an average of 22 years awaiting execution, due to complex, mandatory legal appeals and post-conviction reviews. Timelines can vary depending on the state.
While this was ticking around in the inmate's head, Kimberlin recalls looking around the room, and realizing he was the only one there. He says there was a guard on shift, although at that moment in time, he wasn't in eyesight of the pair.
He then began to sweat, as he recalls thinking 'this guy's a big dude'.
"I'm sweating bullets thinking 'Oh I my god. don't know what I'm going to do'," he tells us of the moment.
However, Kimberlin's 'fight' kicked in, and to evade himself from becoming a potential target, he told the inmate: "They're still going to put you to death, they're going to try and abstentiate you out of here and bring more embarrassment to your family, so that's definitely not something you want to entertain."
Of course, the prisoner never confirmed his 'plan,' but Kimberlin feels like he had a lucky escape.
"That one will always be on my mind," he tells us.
Aside from that little 'blip,' Kimerblin says the inmates he speaks to and spends time with show him 'a lot of respect'.
"They're constantly concerned about my well-being, my family's well-being. And they'll ask that all the time, making sure everybody's okay. They'll ask me if I need anything," he says.
"The compassion that they try to show me from a psychological standpoint fascinates me."
One high profile killer the death row author has spent time with is Samuel Little, who was convicted of eight murders, but confessed to 93 murders between 1970 and 2005. He was recognized by the FBI as one of the most prolific serial killer in US history.
"It fascinates me that people like that are concerned about me and my family, but they had no concern for the people's lives that they've taken," Kimberlin says.
Little evaded law enforcement for decades due to the fact he avoided using weapons that leave forensic evidence, such as manual strangulation.
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