1
00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:12,000
[intense pulsating music playing]
2
00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:20,040
[man] I'd say it was a big deal,
but it was a... a very sobering event.
3
00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:26,800
It was nearing five o'clock
in the afternoon
4
00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:29,960
and, uh, I drove out to the airport.
5
00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:35,280
Then I saw the airplane out on the tarmac.
6
00:00:37,160 --> 00:00:40,120
Nobody really knew
exactly what had happened
7
00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:43,280
other than that
this guy had robbed a pharmacy.
8
00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:47,000
And he had a young hostage
inside the plane.
9
00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:49,400
[dramatic sting, music continues]
10
00:00:49,480 --> 00:00:51,760
I think everybody was kinda learning
as they went along,
11
00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:54,440
not knowing exactly what was gonna happen.
12
00:00:56,880 --> 00:00:59,120
It was very, very quiet.
13
00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:03,280
Until there was gunfire.
14
00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:05,040
[dramatic sting, music continues]
15
00:01:19,320 --> 00:01:22,440
[man] Not that many things happen
in a small town like this.
16
00:01:23,960 --> 00:01:28,400
We've had some homicides,
you know, in and around the area,
17
00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:29,920
but this was a big deal.
18
00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:35,360
Everybody was shocked
by what had taken place.
19
00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:40,760
[music fades]
20
00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:44,560
[theme music playing]
21
00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:08,920
[eerie music playing]
22
00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:22,000
[woman] There we go.
One, two, three, four, five...
23
00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:24,040
[man] Thank you.
24
00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:26,960
See, I never would've got that.
[chuckling]
25
00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:29,720
[grunts]
26
00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:32,240
[low grunt]
27
00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:47,280
[David] My name is David Cameron Keith.
28
00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:57,000
I'd never committed a violent act
in my life before that day.
29
00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:03,400
[music continues]
30
00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:09,680
It was the worst day of my life.
31
00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:14,480
The worst decisions of my life
led to that moment, but... [inhales]
32
00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:15,760
...it is what it is.
33
00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:19,720
It's not something I can take back
just because I'm sorry for it.
34
00:03:23,640 --> 00:03:25,520
[music fades]
35
00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:31,120
[gentle music playing]
36
00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:01,400
[David] My dad?
37
00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:03,800
He was an excellent man.
38
00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:08,040
He was an excellent attorney.
He just wasn't much of a father.
39
00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:11,840
He drank a lot.
40
00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:16,840
He was one of those functional alcoholics.
41
00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:18,360
Very functional.
42
00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:23,080
And they talk about preachers' kids
gettin' in trouble
43
00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:26,160
just because they're preachers' kids.
44
00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:28,840
The same is probably true
with attorney kids.
45
00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:33,440
We were not really well supervised.
46
00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:42,480
I tried alcohol when I was eight,
nine years old, if not sooner,
47
00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:44,760
because my father had parties.
48
00:04:44,840 --> 00:04:46,360
Cocktail parties.
49
00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,320
I probably got drunk a couple of times
in front of them,
50
00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:54,160
but I don't remember them
ever disciplining me.
51
00:04:58,720 --> 00:04:59,880
I was just...
52
00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:05,400
[clicks teeth]...furniture,
if you will. [laughs]
53
00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:24,400
It didn't make me feel
like I was too wanted.
54
00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:28,560
And I got into drugs.
55
00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:37,040
Drugs just made it easier
to bear some of those emotional traumas.
56
00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:44,160
It started off with, let's say,
the... the usual drugs, like marijuana.
57
00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:49,640
But I didn't have to go too much longer
58
00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:54,560
to get really involved
with needles and amphetamines.
59
00:05:55,560 --> 00:06:00,640
I was just... growing up difficult
until 20 years old.
60
00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:07,640
After that... I was a little bit more
involved in the criminal side of life.
61
00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:12,440
And never took advantage
of the surroundings
62
00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:16,480
and of the life we'd been given
and do something with it.
63
00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:19,480
I put a needle in my arm.
64
00:06:20,280 --> 00:06:21,840
That's what I did with it.
65
00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:23,360
[disgusted sigh]
66
00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:33,480
[unsettling music playing]
67
00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:54,920
[David] That period of my life
68
00:06:56,440 --> 00:06:58,040
went from bad to worse.
69
00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:02,120
I was a dope fiend.
70
00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:07,680
I wasn't working.
We had no plans of working.
71
00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:11,320
I was burglarizing drugstores at night,
72
00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:15,680
and selling the proceeds
to people in Spokane.
73
00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:18,840
There was nothing violent about it.
74
00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:21,240
I was a delinquent, if you will.
75
00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:24,880
That was my activities.
76
00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:29,000
And that should have provided
the necessary income, but it didn't.
77
00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:33,440
I was using too many of the drugs.
78
00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:40,240
I knew one thing, I had to pay the rent.
79
00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:43,480
I had to be able to pay for food.
80
00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:46,840
A wife and three kids can't be...
81
00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:53,720
We can't be, uh,
living materially with no income.
82
00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:00,720
I just knew I had to do something
I hadn't done before.
83
00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:06,680
[music fades]
84
00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:10,800
[ominous music playing]
85
00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:17,920
[David] So I went out that morning,
86
00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:21,680
drove around western Montana looking for
87
00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:28,320
a store that looked "comfortable,"
if one could use that word.
88
00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:38,800
[ominous rumble]
89
00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:45,280
I robbed the drug store there.
90
00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:48,640
I didn't think I'd do... did a good job,
so I raced out of town.
91
00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:55,640
I get out back on 93
and a police car tries to pull me over.
92
00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:00,880
I'd just been out of prison
for a couple of months at that point,
93
00:09:01,560 --> 00:09:06,360
and instead of submitting to that arrest,
94
00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:11,360
I drove my car into a parking lot
of a small convenience store.
95
00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:15,320
And I ran into the store.
96
00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:19,720
I was looking for a shield.
97
00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:21,920
I don't know how I came up
with these thoughts.
98
00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:24,840
I'd never done this kind of thing before.
99
00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:33,120
I came through the door and I saw
a movement off the corner of my eye,
100
00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:38,560
and I knew that whoever was making
that shadow in the corner of my eye
101
00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:42,440
wasn't going to be my shield,
so I fired a gun in that direction.
102
00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:43,880
[gunshot]
103
00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:50,640
And then I put my gun
on the back... back of the head
104
00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:56,160
of a smaller...
what turned out to be a 13-year-old boy.
105
00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:01,400
[intense pulsating music builds]
106
00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:09,280
We get in the boy's father's pickup truck.
107
00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:17,240
And some police procession
pretty much followed us to the airport.
108
00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:19,040
[faint sirens wailing]
109
00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:24,480
[David] I was trying to escape.
And been trying to escape for hours.
110
00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:28,520
[intense pulsating music intensifies]
111
00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:41,120
[David] The police sheriff agreed
to provide me with a plane and a pilot
112
00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:43,200
in exchange for the kid.
113
00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:49,840
And I thought, if I got in the plane
and the plane took off,
114
00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:53,560
that the pilot
would take me over the Rocky Mountains...
115
00:10:55,400 --> 00:11:00,760
I would have let the pilot free
and I would have gone on my merry way.
116
00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:02,680
Yeah right, merry way.
117
00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:05,280
No more wife, no more kids.
118
00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:08,160
All that stuff
had been going through my head.
119
00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:18,000
[David] At the airport,
120
00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:21,320
there was police cars
all around the airplane,
121
00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:23,960
you know,
backed off a hundred yards or so.
122
00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:29,640
The pilot was there
on the ground with the plane.
123
00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:45,000
I had no intention
of killing that first hostage, the child.
124
00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:49,640
I'd been thinking
that as soon as I let go of the kid,
125
00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:52,920
I'm going to be shot
and my life is gonna be over.
126
00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:55,640
Well, for some reason that didn't happen.
127
00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:00,440
[music continues]
128
00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:07,080
Once we got in the plane,
129
00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:12,080
I had my gun on the pilot, a new hostage.
130
00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:18,680
And I was hopeful that maybe
I would actually live through this night.
131
00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:20,480
That nobody would get shot.
132
00:12:24,560 --> 00:12:28,040
Pilot takes about a half an hour
trying to start the plane.
133
00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:32,120
But while this... while this was going on,
134
00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:34,720
unbeknownst to me,
135
00:12:35,680 --> 00:12:38,720
other sheriff's deputies
were underneath the plane
136
00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:40,840
letting the air out of the tires.
137
00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:44,520
That plane wasn't going to go anywhere.
138
00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:55,320
[somber music playing]
139
00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:03,160
[David] The negotiating process had me
leaning out the doorway of the plane,
140
00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:05,760
talking to these... to the sheriff.
141
00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:10,480
And one time when I leaned out,
142
00:13:10,560 --> 00:13:13,720
the sniper that was perhaps 50 yards away,
143
00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:15,800
thought he had a clear shot at me.
144
00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:19,000
So he shot me.
145
00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:20,400
[gunshot]
146
00:13:34,680 --> 00:13:36,440
[David] I'd been severely wounded.
147
00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:40,880
I could tell that this wasn't going well.
148
00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:45,880
I was going to be dead pretty quick.
149
00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:50,760
My life was going to be over.
150
00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:56,760
I thought to myself,
"I'll shoot the pilot."
151
00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:00,200
"'Cause I don't want to go alone tonight."
152
00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:05,760
I didn't want the loneliness, just...
153
00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:08,120
[exhales]
154
00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:14,800
It wasn't a well-thought-out,
spiritual, or anything, concept.
155
00:14:18,680 --> 00:14:21,280
Just, uh, I didn't want to go alone.
156
00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:31,320
[gunshot]
157
00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:45,560
[ominous rumble]
158
00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:53,000
[somber music continues]
159
00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:54,960
[David] After I shot the pilot,
160
00:14:56,120 --> 00:14:59,840
I put down my gun
and started backing out of the plane.
161
00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:03,720
And that was my last conscious memory.
162
00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:11,240
I believe I got shot at the doorway
of the aircraft when I got out.
163
00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:15,040
I was shot point-blank
in the back of the head.
164
00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:19,200
Most people don't live when
they're shot in the back of the head.
165
00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:22,440
Here I am, 38 years later.
166
00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:25,520
[laughs] Imagine that.
167
00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:28,520
That I could laugh about this? I'm sick.
168
00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:29,600
Huh?
169
00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:55,840
I regret it with every ounce of my body.
170
00:15:57,280 --> 00:16:01,480
It may not sound
like there's much regret in me.
171
00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:03,840
Believe me, there is.
172
00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:06,840
[sighs]
173
00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:11,840
I didn't wake up that morning
174
00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:16,680
thinking that I would go out
and kill somebody that day.
175
00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:20,360
I wish I would have stopped and said,
"Wait a second."
176
00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:22,360
But... no.
177
00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:26,000
There was...
178
00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:30,880
The feeling...
The feeling chip was not activated,
179
00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:33,440
like Delta on Star Trek.
180
00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:35,200
Jesus.
181
00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:40,000
I wish I would have cared.
182
00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:45,360
Emotions had never really
been a part of my adult... adult life.
183
00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:47,560
And they weren't really a part of it then.
184
00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:53,560
I don't like looking too deeply at myself.
185
00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:58,480
I shouldn't say I don't like it.
I just don't usually do it.
186
00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:02,440
There's not much to like there.
187
00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:10,720
There's nothing right about it.
188
00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:19,640
Well, that's really not true.
189
00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:24,560
What was really right about it
was the pilot volunteering for that child,
190
00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:26,560
to take the place of that child.
191
00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:31,040
That was about the only right thing
that happened that day.
192
00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:36,720
If I could fake up tears right now,
I would.
193
00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:39,440
But I can't.
194
00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:52,840
[music fades]
195
00:17:57,400 --> 00:17:59,400
[birdsong]
196
00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:10,400
[gentle piano music playing]
197
00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:17,440
[man] I miss my father.
198
00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:21,800
It's almost funny to say after 38 years.
199
00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:28,680
Whenever you lose your parents,
you miss 'em. You know, at whatever age.
200
00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:36,240
I'm George Shryock.
I'm the son of Harry Lee Shryock.
201
00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:43,400
The long-term effects of what happened
202
00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:47,760
to... his death and... and, uh...
203
00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:51,280
[hesitates]...were very hard
for all of us. For all the family.
204
00:18:53,120 --> 00:18:57,560
Our grandchildren, his grandchildren,
our children. They missed him.
205
00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:01,040
You know, we knew him.
We still know who he was.
206
00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:02,560
They don't.
207
00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:07,080
I wish my boys
would have had, uh, his influence.
208
00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:13,000
So, that's a... That's a regret. So...
209
00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:23,800
Well, my father came
from a humble background in Ohio.
210
00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:29,960
He'd always, growing up, had visions,
almost Peter Pan-like, of flying.
211
00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:34,200
And, uh, and so when he was 20,
212
00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:37,880
he... he joined the Air Corps Cadet program.
213
00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:43,480
My father spent 30 years in the military
214
00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:47,960
in three theaters of combat
in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.
215
00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:50,480
But he retired at 51.
216
00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:55,920
Of course, he was decorated
for seeing a lot of combat.
217
00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:00,880
He was really a good pilot.
218
00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:07,280
[music continues]
219
00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:20,600
[George] He left this note on the counter
'cause my mom wasn't home.
220
00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:24,080
She went by Dee and he went by Lee.
221
00:20:27,920 --> 00:20:30,600
"A hostage situation south of town."
222
00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:35,240
"I have to fly the sheriff
down to look it over."
223
00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:37,240
"Lee."
224
00:20:56,960 --> 00:21:01,120
I experienced a lot of anger
for a few years.
225
00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:06,480
My wife thinks I'm still really angry.
I can't say that I'm really angry.
226
00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:13,400
I'm neutral. It's just, Keith has to deal
with himself and his maker in his own way.
227
00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:17,480
He's obviously highly intelligent.
228
00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:20,240
He could have made
moral and ethical decisions,
229
00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:22,600
when he came to age.
230
00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:27,960
And, uh, as far as his remorse...
231
00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:32,280
It's difficult for me to believe,
uh, given his history.
232
00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:39,000
Keith was hell-bent. This was...
this didn't happen just that day.
233
00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:42,240
It was a ten-year collision path
with destiny.
234
00:21:56,680 --> 00:21:59,840
[acoustic guitar playing]
235
00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:12,760
[man] It's an individual decision
to forgive one person for their acts.
236
00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:19,840
Some people can't forgive and some people,
is a way to cleansing the soul.
237
00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:28,880
My brother is a result of his childhood.
238
00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:33,600
He wouldn't be what he is today
239
00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:36,720
without his childhood
setting him on that path.
240
00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:47,000
My name is Bruce Keith,
and I'm the older brother of David Keith.
241
00:22:57,560 --> 00:22:59,680
[music fades]
242
00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:04,480
[Bruce] When I saw him in the hospital
with the tubes, and the wires,
243
00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:07,360
and the, uh, screens
with the heartbeat on,
244
00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:12,400
it's pretty daunting to look at when it's,
you know, a close relative, certainly.
245
00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:15,640
And you might see it on TV
once in a while,
246
00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:20,040
but when it's in your real life,
right in your face, it's difficult.
247
00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:28,280
[poignant music playing]
248
00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:38,680
Nobody knew
if he was really going to live or die.
249
00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:41,080
I mean, he was on a life support system,
250
00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:45,960
and then the next thing I heard was,
he's got a trial date.
251
00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:50,800
Because you don't try somebody
that's rehabbing from trauma.
252
00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:54,520
You have to wait
until they can defend themselves a bit.
253
00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:57,560
He had a lot of pressure on him
254
00:23:57,640 --> 00:24:03,040
to show up before a judge after
this horrific thing, and face the music.
255
00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:37,200
When he stood up in court
and pled guilty to his charges,
256
00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:39,440
I understood why he did that.
257
00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:43,440
As part of taking responsibility.
258
00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:52,720
Sitting in the courtroom and listening
to the judge, uh, pronounce sentence,
259
00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:57,480
I remember the words of the judge
quite distinctly. He said,
260
00:24:57,560 --> 00:25:00,440
"Son, you've really
broke the bank on this one."
261
00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:14,480
[indistinct voice]
262
00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:18,960
How many, uh, people have ever heard
of two death penalties
263
00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:20,920
getting handed out in the same courtroom?
264
00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:26,040
I think David's, uh, punishment
265
00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:33,160
as handed down by the judge,
was not the... the right thing.
266
00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:37,360
I don't think, uh, killing anybody
267
00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:40,400
is a... a worthwhile endeavor.
268
00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:45,760
I don't know
if I even processed it for years.
269
00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:47,320
But...
270
00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:52,200
[voice breaks] You certainly know
you'll never see him again,
271
00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:54,240
except behind bars.
272
00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:09,920
He chose the guilty path
because he knew he did it,
273
00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:13,560
so he's being honest
with himself and with the court.
274
00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:17,920
He'll never... never not be sorry for it.
275
00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:24,200
He understands
that he brought it all on himself.
276
00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:27,480
He understands he's paid a heavy price
for his actions.
277
00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:30,920
So, is he a danger to society?
278
00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:32,440
I hardly think so.
279
00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:37,320
I would really like to see him
released and thrive.
280
00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:39,840
It's possible.
281
00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:48,760
[rhythmic music playing]
282
00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:06,480
[man] There's not a question
of an innocent person here.
283
00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:08,920
There's no question who did it.
284
00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:11,560
There's not mistaken identity.
285
00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:16,360
But it's like they say,
the Irish don't see black and white
286
00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:19,120
because they see
all the colors in between.
287
00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:23,400
That's my problem, I see all the colors
in between in a story like this.
288
00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:27,560
My name is Jim Manley.
289
00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:30,720
I'm the district court judge
for the 20th Judicial District,
290
00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:35,480
which is the jurisdiction
in which this case was handled.
291
00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:40,040
[haunting music playing]
292
00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:52,360
David Cameron Keith
was sentenced to death in this courtroom,
293
00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:53,960
at that table over there.
294
00:27:57,120 --> 00:28:01,000
When the sentence was announced,
295
00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:05,440
I don't remember him uttering any sounds
or making any scene or...
296
00:28:06,360 --> 00:28:08,760
or showing much emotion.
297
00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:12,320
Through every step of the procedure,
298
00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:15,840
he sat here and was stoic,
299
00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:18,840
and you would have never guessed is
300
00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:21,920
that this serious a sentence
hanging over his head.
301
00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:29,160
It's almost unheard of
for somebody to plead guilty
302
00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:32,880
if they know that the death penalty is
on the... on the table.
303
00:28:32,960 --> 00:28:34,240
Unless they want to die.
304
00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:40,760
So it was surprising.
But on the other hand, he had no defenses.
305
00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:46,480
The homicide crimes did meet
the criteria for the death penalty.
306
00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:54,040
As long as human society has existed,
there's been a need for retribution, and...
307
00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:57,280
I understand that part of it.
308
00:28:57,360 --> 00:28:58,480
On the other hand,
309
00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:05,320
the existence of the death penalty
doesn't really reduce homicides.
310
00:29:05,840 --> 00:29:12,200
However, if I have to follow
the letter and the spirit of the law,
311
00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:14,600
as the legislature hands it down...
312
00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:20,400
I very well might sentence him
to the death penalty today.
313
00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:25,600
Even though, personally, I don't really...
I'm not really in favor of it.
314
00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:33,720
[somber music playing]
315
00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:03,560
[James] Governor Swindon studied the file,
talked to everybody involved,
316
00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:07,560
went over to the prison,
sat down eye-to-eye with him
317
00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:09,840
and talked to him for some time.
318
00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:16,320
And at that time, it's my understanding
David Cameron Keith had become a Christian
319
00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:19,640
and was going around
talking to high school groups
320
00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:22,200
about crimes, and drugs,
321
00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:26,160
and convinced the Governor
that he was remorseful.
322
00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:32,200
The Governor weighed all of that
and commuted his death sentence
323
00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:35,760
to life in prison
without possibility of parole.
324
00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:39,640
First time I ever remember
a Montana governor
325
00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:42,160
commuting a death sentence like that.
326
00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:54,040
It's my understanding David Cameron Keith
has presented a number of faces
327
00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:58,360
to... to different people
over a period of time.
328
00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:02,680
I don't know
which is the real David Cameron Keith.
329
00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:09,960
But, if he is indeed sincere,
and remorseful about what he did,
330
00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:16,120
and if the victim's family,
uh, is consulted,
331
00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:20,760
I wouldn't object to him
being released on parole at this point.
332
00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:33,760
[music fades]
333
00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:39,920
[faint birdsong]
334
00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:44,040
[gentle piano music playing]
335
00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:02,480
[woman] Hmm.
336
00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:08,440
When I think about Dad, I'm proud.
337
00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:12,760
I'm not proud of the mistakes he made
but I'm proud that,
338
00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:16,680
through it all, he... he loved us,
339
00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:19,880
in whatever capacity he could.
340
00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:26,680
[man] I don't believe he was
a violent person in any...
341
00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:29,200
any part of his being, uh,
342
00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:33,720
but I have seen people
with drug addiction backed into a corner
343
00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:37,960
and virtually do anything they can do to...
344
00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:41,080
get their fix
to be able to deal with... with life.
345
00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:46,200
I know... [hesitates]...without a doubt,
346
00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:51,760
that it wasn't premeditated.
It wasn't out of malice, it was...
347
00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:58,880
"Oh my God, I'm freaking out here
and I don't know what to do."
348
00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:23,400
[Cameron] This is probably the only, like,
real photo that I have of me and him.
349
00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:25,720
We actually got this photo enlarged,
350
00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:29,240
that we have on our stairway
going upstairs.
351
00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:35,640
I've only got to know him being in jail.
352
00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:40,400
Even though he's been in prison
the whole time, he's been great to me.
353
00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:48,040
For somebody that's been incarcerated
as long as he has been incarcerated,
354
00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:52,480
I've never seen somebody so positive,
355
00:33:52,560 --> 00:33:58,120
and still wanting to make a difference,
and still wanting to be,
356
00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:03,240
uh, you know, part of my life,
and learn things that I like,
357
00:34:03,320 --> 00:34:05,400
and, you know, get pictures of my kids.
358
00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:10,520
We pretty much talk on a weekly basis.
359
00:34:13,800 --> 00:34:19,960
Everybody, regardless of their mistakes,
deserves a chance.
360
00:34:20,040 --> 00:34:23,080
They are humans, regardless.
361
00:34:26,240 --> 00:34:29,001
[Cameron] I think he's served the time
that he's served for the crimes
362
00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:32,080
that he's done, but, uh,
363
00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:35,720
I also understand
that he took somebody's life away.
364
00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:39,520
[Traci] I never really thought
about the victims
365
00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:41,200
until now.
366
00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:45,040
Uh, I don't know, because it was...
I was nine,
367
00:34:45,640 --> 00:34:47,520
and I didn't have the capacity
368
00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:52,560
to even think about, you know,
the victims in all of this.
369
00:34:55,720 --> 00:34:58,800
[Cameron] But if they ever met him
or spoke with him,
370
00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:02,200
I think they... [hesitates]
...they would forgive him.
371
00:35:10,400 --> 00:35:11,880
[music fades]
372
00:35:16,240 --> 00:35:18,560
[soothing music playing]
373
00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:30,640
[man] David Keith, I found him
to be interesting to talk to.
374
00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:35,840
I've been around people
who commit homicides
375
00:35:35,920 --> 00:35:40,080
and, you know,
he didn't fit the profile for that.
376
00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:44,520
If you met David in a restaurant downtown,
377
00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:48,720
you'd think he's a fairly normal,
pretty intelligent guy.
378
00:35:51,680 --> 00:35:56,040
He wasn't a dumb young man.
He just made bad choices.
379
00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:03,360
I'm Dennis Jones, and I was correspondent
for the Missoulian Newspaper.
380
00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:10,640
I covered the David Keith, Harry Shryock
situation that devolved at the airport,
381
00:36:10,720 --> 00:36:14,880
and, uh, continued to follow that case
until it was resolved.
382
00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:21,200
David said it was just a bad day,
which is an understatement.
383
00:36:37,960 --> 00:36:40,960
I talked with David in numerous interviews
384
00:36:41,040 --> 00:36:44,800
and we continued to have a relationship,
in terms of him... wrote me notes.
385
00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:49,800
I wasn't aware
that any other people interviewed him.
386
00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:53,400
They had access to him as much as I did,
387
00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:57,240
but it got to the point where
he wouldn't talk to anybody else,
388
00:36:57,320 --> 00:36:58,320
except me.
389
00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:04,480
He wrote a lot of personal things
in his letters about his feelings
390
00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:07,400
and very... very transparent.
391
00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:12,440
And they all seemed to be,
you know, pretty honest.
392
00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:17,280
I don't think he was trying
to, uh, to impress anybody.
393
00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:22,680
I do think he, uh, was remorseful
for what he'd done.
394
00:37:22,760 --> 00:37:27,600
I think a lot of it had to do probably
with him trying to express his guilt.
395
00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:41,560
[David, on recording]
Hell, I've been lying to myself for,
396
00:37:42,720 --> 00:37:45,600
what, a dozen years?
397
00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:48,680
Lying to everybody else about it,
actually.
398
00:37:49,600 --> 00:37:51,760
Pleading guilty, taking the trial on,
399
00:37:52,360 --> 00:37:54,760
I was just trying
to throw my mercy on the court
400
00:37:54,840 --> 00:37:58,360
and hoped that I'd get
a little leniency as a result.
401
00:37:59,960 --> 00:38:03,520
The judge wouldn't have to waste
all that time, and money, etcetera.
402
00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:07,040
Maybe he wouldn't give me a death penalty,
403
00:38:07,120 --> 00:38:08,680
because I was surely guilty.
404
00:38:10,680 --> 00:38:12,960
It was all about me, myself, and I.
405
00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:18,440
Have I been sufficiently punished?
406
00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:23,200
Well, the courts
don't seem to think so. And...
407
00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:27,720
I don't know what to say about that.
408
00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:31,280
I sincerely think
that I've been over-punished.
409
00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:36,200
You haven't seen that bullet hole
in the back of my head, but...
410
00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:39,600
I was shot point-blank
in the back of the head.
411
00:38:41,240 --> 00:38:44,800
For some reason,
that just doesn't seem to be right.
412
00:38:46,160 --> 00:38:48,040
But, sour grapes.
413
00:38:48,680 --> 00:38:50,680
I put myself in that position.
414
00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:53,760
And it is what it is.
415
00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:02,240
Well, it's the first time I've heard
David Keith in a long time.
416
00:39:02,320 --> 00:39:07,440
Uh, if I'm hearing it correctly,
was that he said
417
00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:09,600
he was gonna
418
00:39:10,320 --> 00:39:13,200
try to stay off death row
by pleading guilty.
419
00:39:14,880 --> 00:39:17,240
Now, he said that's his motivation.
420
00:39:17,320 --> 00:39:20,920
Back then, he made it sound like
he was going to assume responsibility.
421
00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:25,640
You know,
422
00:39:26,440 --> 00:39:29,320
there are some sidebars to... to everything.
423
00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:34,280
Maybe that was partly true
that he wanted to assume responsibility,
424
00:39:34,360 --> 00:39:39,520
but at the same time, it was a
manipulative kind of thing to,
425
00:39:39,600 --> 00:39:40,600
as he said,
426
00:39:40,640 --> 00:39:42,240
"keep me off of death row."
427
00:39:43,440 --> 00:39:45,360
It sounds almost like he's, uh,
428
00:39:47,040 --> 00:39:48,960
you know, gone back in time.
429
00:39:52,160 --> 00:39:54,000
Sounds a little more aggressive
430
00:39:54,560 --> 00:39:58,080
now that he's had a lot of time
to think about it, you know.
431
00:39:59,920 --> 00:40:01,080
He's on a different page.
432
00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:06,200
He's thinking about David Keith,
not Mr. Shryock and his family.
433
00:40:08,080 --> 00:40:10,440
And to that extent, it is disappointing.
434
00:40:21,240 --> 00:40:23,240
[somber music playing]
435
00:40:55,080 --> 00:40:57,160
[David, on recording]
There's nothing right about it.
436
00:40:57,960 --> 00:40:59,920
That's really not true.
437
00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:04,960
What was really right about it
was the pilot volunteering for that child.
438
00:41:05,960 --> 00:41:09,240
That was about the only right
thing that happened that day.
439
00:41:10,480 --> 00:41:14,000
If I could fake up tears right now,
I would.
440
00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:16,960
But I can't.
441
00:41:18,880 --> 00:41:24,080
I regret killing Mr. Shryock
from the bottom of my heart.
442
00:41:24,160 --> 00:41:29,720
It's not something that I had intended
even... five seconds earlier.
443
00:41:31,560 --> 00:41:35,640
Because I wasn't planning on shooting
somebody at that moment in time.
444
00:41:36,200 --> 00:41:37,560
I was trying to escape,
445
00:41:38,360 --> 00:41:40,560
and been trying to escape for hours.
446
00:41:46,040 --> 00:41:50,600
David Keith said, "I wasn't trying
to hurt anybody, I was trying to escape."
447
00:41:51,560 --> 00:41:53,040
It's a little hard to believe.
448
00:41:58,120 --> 00:42:01,760
In one day, he held up
a drug store at gunpoint.
449
00:42:01,840 --> 00:42:03,160
He stole narcotics.
450
00:42:03,680 --> 00:42:05,360
He evaded capture.
451
00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:08,960
He attempted homicide,
shooting at a store owner.
452
00:42:09,040 --> 00:42:12,040
He kidnapped his son,
held him at gunpoint.
453
00:42:12,120 --> 00:42:15,000
Took my father hostage, uh...
454
00:42:15,080 --> 00:42:18,240
[hesitates]...and committed homicide.
All in one day.
455
00:42:19,080 --> 00:42:23,000
And that's just to cap off
a ten-year career as a sociopath.
456
00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:27,360
Literally in crime for a decade,
in and out of prison.
457
00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:29,200
On parole.
458
00:42:29,840 --> 00:42:33,280
But he talked
his way out of those things, uh...
459
00:42:33,880 --> 00:42:37,840
So, he spent a lifetime
honing these criminal skills.
460
00:42:38,520 --> 00:42:41,520
And, it had to end in tragedy.
461
00:42:44,960 --> 00:42:46,800
Does he believe his remorse?
462
00:42:46,880 --> 00:42:48,640
That would be a good question.
463
00:42:49,160 --> 00:42:53,960
Uh, for somebody with such
sociopathic tendencies,
464
00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:56,200
and... and who's fairly glib,
465
00:42:56,880 --> 00:43:01,000
and... and, uh, and obviously articulate.
466
00:43:01,080 --> 00:43:02,160
Is it believable?
467
00:43:02,800 --> 00:43:05,520
You know, I'm... It really isn't to me.
468
00:43:06,240 --> 00:43:07,440
He's a real con guy.
469
00:43:08,080 --> 00:43:12,760
And... and if he could make a play
to get some special dispensation
470
00:43:12,840 --> 00:43:16,960
and get the governor to make
some change in his sentence, he'd do it.
471
00:43:27,200 --> 00:43:30,080
[haunting music playing]
472
00:43:35,920 --> 00:43:39,960
[David] To the day I die,
I'll be sorry for killing Mr. Shryock.
473
00:43:41,880 --> 00:43:45,200
More than half my life
has passed since that day.
474
00:43:46,800 --> 00:43:51,480
I've wasted so much
of my time and energies...
475
00:43:52,600 --> 00:43:54,040
in a prison.
476
00:43:54,760 --> 00:43:59,800
Yet, I deservedly needed to be punished,
but this...
477
00:44:00,840 --> 00:44:02,640
I can do other things.
478
00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:16,920
I'd like to be able to be a witness
to my grandchildren,
479
00:44:17,640 --> 00:44:19,800
so they'd never go as far off track.
480
00:44:21,640 --> 00:44:23,320
I can be honest with people.
481
00:44:25,160 --> 00:44:28,880
And want to be honest with them,
I can, I want to be honest.
482
00:44:37,960 --> 00:44:39,960
[George, on recording]
Does he believe his remorse?
483
00:44:40,000 --> 00:44:41,760
That... that would be a good question.
484
00:44:42,840 --> 00:44:46,240
For somebody with such
sociopathic tendencies,
485
00:44:46,320 --> 00:44:48,560
and... and who's fairly glib,
486
00:44:49,200 --> 00:44:52,960
and... and, uh, and obviously articulate.
487
00:44:53,640 --> 00:44:56,120
[hesitates]
488
00:44:56,200 --> 00:44:57,800
[clicks teeth] Is it believable?
489
00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:00,720
I'm... It really isn't to me.
490
00:45:05,160 --> 00:45:09,440
I'm thinking a sociopath would
probably be a good description of me.
491
00:45:11,160 --> 00:45:15,320
But, I was a completely different
human being back then.
492
00:45:17,160 --> 00:45:19,120
That doesn't excuse what I did,
493
00:45:19,720 --> 00:45:22,160
but I think I've paid the penalty for it.
494
00:45:24,000 --> 00:45:26,000
If I could take it back, I would.
495
00:45:27,000 --> 00:45:29,120
But we all know that can't happen.
496
00:45:35,400 --> 00:45:38,920
I can honestly say that,
from the bottom of my heart,
497
00:45:39,600 --> 00:45:40,640
I am sorry.
498
00:45:42,560 --> 00:45:44,040
[exhales]
499
00:45:45,720 --> 00:45:47,880
[ragged breathing, clicks teeth]
500
00:45:51,640 --> 00:45:53,440
Mm, sorry, I just...
501
00:45:54,200 --> 00:45:57,920
There are some things,
I know when, if I try to force words out,
502
00:45:59,600 --> 00:46:02,200
it's gonna be a crying fest.
503
00:46:03,280 --> 00:46:04,600
[voice breaks] And...
504
00:46:06,160 --> 00:46:12,240
I don't desire
anybody to take pity on me, etcetera.
505
00:46:13,080 --> 00:46:14,680
I'm a changed man.
506
00:46:15,800 --> 00:46:19,560
Society shouldn't have to support me
for the rest of my life.
507
00:46:19,640 --> 00:46:21,480
Give me a chance to do so.
508
00:46:24,080 --> 00:46:26,800
[melancholic music playing]
509
00:46:48,800 --> 00:46:52,960
What I've missed out on in life
could fill a book.
510
00:46:54,360 --> 00:46:56,160
Probably a hundred times over.
511
00:47:00,680 --> 00:47:02,200
You, me, everybody.
512
00:47:03,360 --> 00:47:04,800
We all make mistakes.
513
00:47:05,920 --> 00:47:08,280
Don't waste your life like I did.
514
00:47:15,760 --> 00:47:17,840
[closing theme music playing]