Current Death Row Inmates
Ronald Allen Smith of Red Deer, Alberta, plead guilty on February 24, 1983 to 2 counts of deliberate homicide and 2 counts of aggravated kidnapping for the deaths of Thomas Running Rabbit, Jr. (20) and Harvey Mad Man, Jr. (23), both residents of the Blackfoot Indian Reservation. He is currently the only Canadian citizen on death row in the United States. His case is currently under appeal in the Montana court system.
William Jay Gollehon was convicted of deliberate homicide in 1992 and sentenced to death for the beating death of inmate Gerald Pileggi the Montana State Prison. His case is currently under appeal in the Montana court system.
Who is the executioner?
The prison warden selects the executioner, whose identity is kept confidential. The duties are performed in an area separate from where a panel of 12 people witness the execution.
Who can observe?
The inmate chooses 3 of the panel members and the media chooses 4. The victim's family is offered 3 places on the panel. The condemned is allowed to make a final statement and can be interviewed by the media, if he chooses.
Equity in Sentencing?
Rodney Munro, Smith's accomplice in the crime, was sentenced to serve 60 years for his role in the crime. After being extradited to Canada (where there is no death penalty), Munro admitted his part in the crime, now saying that Smith did not act alone, despite claims by the district attorney in the case that Smith shot both victims. Munro now claims that he, in fact, killed Running Rabbit. Munro is serving his time at the Canadian Federal Prison in Abbotsford, British Columbia.
* Please note that individuals sentenced to death in Montana are held in the Maximum security section of the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge. They are not kept apart from other high security prisoners on their own corridor - hence, there is no actual segregated "Death Row" section. "Death Row" here simply refers to those under sentence of death in Montana.{ All right reserved - Montana Abolition Coalition 2009 }