A new documentary airing tonight on ITV will see Susanna Reid meeting with the only British woman on death row in the Western world. 63-year-old Linda Carty has been awaiting execution for two decades, and will be the main subject of British Grandma on Death Row with Susanna Reid, which will air at 9pm.
Susanna Reid explained how Linda ended up facing execution. She said: "British woman Linda Carty has spent almost twenty years on death row.
"The court heard Linda orchestrated the kidnap of her pregnant neighbour, Joana Rodriguez, equipped with scrubs and scissors, as she intended to cut the baby out. Linda didn’t know that Joana had already had her baby four days earlier. Joana and her tiny baby boy were kidnapped and Joana was suffocated to death."
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Linda is being held in Texas, where Susanna travels to meet her. The grandmother continues to plead her innocence, and has repeatedly said she is 'not guilty', despite the substantial evidence against her.
The former teacher was born in St Kitts in October 1958, back when it was still a British colony. If Linda is executed, she will be the first female to die under capital punishment since Ruth Ellis, who was put to death in 1955, and, it is thought, the first British Black woman to be executed in over a century.
In the 1980s, Linda emigrated to the United States as a citizen, where she studied pharmacology at the University of Houston. The murder she is currently on death row for is not the only crime she is convicted of, as Linda was convicted of auto theft and the impersonation of an FBI agent in the early 1990s.
Linda was sentenced to ten years probation, on one condition - she worked as a drug informant. The crucial information she provided to law enforcement led to two arrests, but her role as an informant ended when she was arrested on drug charges.
The British grandmother has said during interviews with the media that a friend she had worked for the Houston Police Department, and it was them that recruited her. She has also claimed that her work for the Drug Enforcement Adminstration (DEA) led to a lot of dealers being put in prison, and the seizure of thousands of dollars worth of narcotics.
Regarding the murder she has been convicted of, prosecuters allege that Linda was so desperate for a baby, she wanted to kidnap Joana and keep baby Ray as her own. The case is not straight forward, with there being many questions over the validity of witnesses who testified against Linda at her trial.
Several applications for appeal have been submitted, and all have been fruitless, as Linda remains on death row. Susanna Reid will be investigating the case on our screens tonight, with access to the police custody footage and key witness, Chris Robinson.
During the documentary, Susanna will be speaking with Linda's daughter, Jouvelle Joubert, who speaks candidly of the struggles of awaiting her mother's execution, which she says she will not attend. Former Harris County District Attorney, Lynn Hardaway recalls Linda's conviction and says: "I don’t have any doubt she is guilty of this crime; all the evidence was consistent and had her as the ringleader and orchestrator of the whole offence."
Barrister, Hugh Southey QC, has campaigned for Linda's release for the last decade. He claims that Linda did not have sufficient, high-quality representation at the murder trial.
British Grandma on Death Row with Susanna Reid will air tonight on ITV at 9pm.
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