Ronald Smith looks tired.
Despite good news last month, when a bill to resume executions in Montana was unexpectedly defeated, the Canadian on death row in that state is in a grim mood.
Smith, from Red Deer, Alta., Has been facing the death penalty since 1983 for killing two young men in Montana in 1982.
“I thought we were screwed,” he said in an interview with The Canadian Press from a prison in Deer Lodge, MT.
“I didn’t think there was any chance it wouldn’t get approved. Once my daughter found out, I explained to her which route we were going to take and what the likely results would be. I was so sure it was over. ”
All executions in Montana have been suspended since 2015 because the state requires the use of an ultra-rapid-acting barbiturate, which is no longer available. There has been no execution in Montana since 2006.
The Montana House of Representatives passed a bill in February that would have amended the protocol to include any substance in a lethal amount sufficient to cause death. But the Senate rejected it with 26 votes against 24.
The question of enforcement is likely to arise again in two years when the state legislature meets again.
“Obviously I’m happy with it, but at the same time, it keeps going through my head. ” Oh shit. I’m stuck here again, ”Smith sighed.
“A lot of people see this and say, ‘At least you’re alive,’ but I really am not. I’m just sitting like a lump on a log, that’s all I do, and after almost 40 years of that, it’s all better. “
Smith, 63, rephrased his answer when asked if he would prefer to be executed.
“Well, maybe not preferable, but I wouldn’t mind. As soon as I heard what was going on, I accepted it. I said, “OK, cool. I don’t have to face this shit anymore. “”
“I was worried about my family because they were going to find it difficult. Personally, I don’t care. I’ve reached the point where I’ve done enough. ”
Smith and Rodney Munro, both under the influence of LSD and alcohol, shot and killed two Native cousins near East Glacier, MT in 1982. They admitted to kidding Harvey Mad Man, 23, and Thomas Running Rabbit, 20, in the woods from a highway. They shot each man in the head with a .22 caliber sawed-off shotgun.
The court heard that Smith and Munro wanted to steal the victims’ car. Smith also said at the time that he wanted to know what it was like to kill someone.
He was initially offered a deal that would have removed the possibility of the death penalty, but he rejected it. He pleaded guilty and demanded to be put to death, but then changed his mind. It has had five performance dates set over the years. Each has been overthrown.
The families of the victims continued to press for Smith to be executed.
Munro accepted the deal, was eventually transferred to a prison in Canada, and has been free since 1998.
“He’s been out for 23 years and is doing well and I wish him all the best. If I had accepted this plea deal, then I would have walked out a long time ago. It’s hard not to have that in mind on a fairly regular basis. ”
Smith said he had no problem paying for his crimes, but would like to be transferred to a prison in Canada, where he has a daughter, two sisters, grandchildren and a great-grandchild. child.
“I get pretty much what I deserve for the crime I committed,” he said. “If I was in a position where I could see my family all the time, then leave me locked up. I do not care.”
“It is what it is. I committed the crime. ”
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