To Execute or Not | The Financial, Moral, and Emotional Weight of the Death Penalty with Kirk Nurmi

Zone 7 with Sheryl McCollum

Chad Daybell is charged with the murders of 7-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow, Tylee Ryan, last seen when she was 16, and his previous wife Tammy Daybell, who died of asphyxiation the year before. Lori Vallow was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for her role in her children's deaths. She was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the deaths of both children and received an additional 10-year prison sentence on a grand theft charge.

Guest Bio and Links:

Kirk Nurmi became infamous while serving as lead counsel for Jodi Arias. Today, as a former criminal defense attorney, he is thrilled that his legal career is a thing of the past. He has found a new level of joy working as a writer, speaker, and life coach whose new mission is to help others find a new level of joy.

Resources:

In this episode of Zone 7, Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum, talks with former criminal defense attorney, Kirk Nurmi about the unique perspectives of the American criminal justice system; specifically the death penalty. Kirk breaks down the complexities of a death penalty defense using the high-profile case of Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell as a backdrop. They explore the legal and moral dilemmas faced by jurors and public defenders and the enduring challenges of a deeply polarizing topic.

Could you look someone in the eye and say, ‘I think you should die’…?

Show Notes:

• (0:00) Welcome back to Zone 7 with Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum.
• (1:00) Sheryl introduces guest, Kirk Nurmi to Zone 7
• (5:45) Brief background of Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow case
• (9:00) Death penalty considerations
• (13:10) “We can talk about the death penalty, people can listen to it, but you think about that when, if you're in that jury box, And you're looking at that person, and you've kind of seen them for months, and you see their family, their family might be behind them, their kids, their spouse, etc. And you, as a juror, have to look at that person and say, I think you should die…”
• (14:30) Mitigation and psychological profiling
• (22:00) Process of death penalty
• (27:00) Factors that determine the death penalty being on the table
• (30:30) Polarization of the death penalty
• (32:00) The magnitude of a death penalty case
• (35:30) “I was personally opposed to the death penalty. And yet, I think I've probably asked for the death penalty more than most people in the United States.” -Janet Reno
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Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnLine, Forensic and Crime Scene Expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and a CSI for a metro Atlanta Police Department. She is the co-author of the textbook., Cold Case: Pathways to Justice. Sheryl is also the founder and director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, a collaboration between universities and colleges that brings researchers, practitioners, students and the criminal justice community together to advance techniques in solving cold cases and assist families and law enforcement with solvability factors for unsolved homicides, missing persons, and kidnapping cases.

Social Links:

• Email: [e-mail]
• Twitter: @ColdCaseTips
• Facebook: @sheryl.mccollum

• Instagram: @officialzone7podcast

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