Kim Kardashian petitions to stop execution of Texas man convicted of murdering two youth ministers in 1999 when he was 18, saying he played only a minor role in the slayings and didn't receive a fair trial
Kim Kardashian West is seeking to stop the execution of a Texas man who was sentenced to death for his involvement in the 1999 murders of two youth ministers.
The reality star-turned-prison reform advocate highlighted the case in a tweet on Sunday, writing: 'A terrible case has been brought to my attention and I need your help. Without it, on December 12th Brandon Bernard is going to be executed for a crime he participated in as a teenager.'
Bernard, 40, was given the death penalty in 2000 for killing Todd and Stacie Bagley with the help of four accomplices, all of whom were teenagers at the time, in Killeen, Texas.
The teens were accused of holding the Bagleys at gunpoint and stealing their car before shooting them dead and burning their bodies in the trunk.
Last week Bernard's attorneys asked a federal judge to postpone his execution, claiming that prosecutors suppressed critical evidence during his trial two decades ago.
The defense said Bernard was not with his four accomplices when they kidnapped the Bagleys, and that he only became involved later because he was a low-level member of a gang that ordered the killings.
Kim Kardashian West (left) is seeking to stop the execution of Brandon Bernard (right), who was sentenced to death for his involvement in the murders of two youth ministers in 1999
Kardashian explained Bernard's case in a Twitter thread on Sunday
One of Bernard's five co-defendants, Christopher Vialva, was executed in September. Prosecutors said it was Vialva who shot both Todd and Stacey Bagley and made the order to torch their car.
If the judge doesn't order a stay of execution, Bernard will die by lethal injection at a federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, on December 10, according to prison records.
Kardashian, who has successfully campaigned for the release of nearly two dozen inmates over the past few years, explained Bernard's case on Sunday as she asked her 67.7 million followers for help in getting his sentence commuted to life in prison.
In her first tweet she incorrectly stated the date of Bernard's execution as December 12.
She then went on to say that she knows Bernard's actions were inexcusable, but she doesn't think he deserves to die because of something he did when he was 18.
'First, I want to say that a terrible crime was committed and me fighting for a stay of execution does not take away from the sympathy I have for the victim's Todd and Stacie Bagley, and their families. My heart breaks for everyone involved,' Kardashian wrote in a thread.
'While Brandon did participate in this crime, his role was minor compared to that of the other teens involved, two of whom are home from prison now.
'In fact, Brandon was not a part of the initial carjacking that took place and was stunned when the robbery turned into a homicide with one of the other teens shooting both Todd and Stacie in the head.
'The gunman then turned to Brandon, gun still in hand, and told him to light the car Todd and Stacie lay in on fire to destroy the evidence. Brandon believed both were dead, though Stacie was not, and was fearful for his own life, so he made the terrible decision to comply.
'At trial Brandon's attorney fell short by not hiring any experts who could have explained to the jury why Brandon decided to leave the video game store that night or how he had grown up in an abusive home, or how his homeless father had left him searching for protection in the streets.
'His trial attorney also failed to tell the jury how remorseful he was or anything about his background. We now know this testimony would have spared his life.
'In fact, two jurors who have since stated that had they learned about Brandon's background or how at just a few months past 18 his brain was still developing, they would NOT have voted for the death penalty.
'Recently the prosecutor herself- the person who helped put Brandon on death row- has also come forward and asked that his life be spared since he was the least culpable of the five teens involved.
'Although all five teens were black, 11 of the 12 jurors were white. This, coupled with the misleading and incomplete information the jury was given, deprived the boys of a fair trial. Instead of being executed, Brandon could live out his sentence in prison.
'He has now been on death row for 20+ years with zero disciplinary write ups. He uses his time to reach out to at-risk youth, advising them to not stray from the Lord's path (or not follow in his teenage footsteps).'
Kardashian concluded her thread with a link to a petition asking to commute Bernard's sentence.
She also posted a link to an op-ed written by one of the prosecutors who led the case against Bernard in 2000, Angela Moore, who said she no longer believes he should be put to death.
Kardashian said that she knows Bernard's actions were inexcusable, but she doesn't think he deserves to die because of something he did when he was 18. Pictured: Bernard holds a photo of himself with family in an undated photo from prison
Kardashian's Twitter thread about Bernard is shown in full above
According to court records, the Bagleys were on their way home from a Sunday church service while visiting Texas from Iowa when Bernard, Vialva and their teenage accomplices asked the couple for a ride when they stopped at a convenience store - planning all along to rob the couple.
Bernard's co-defendant Christopher Vialva (pictured) was executed in September
After the Bagleys agreed and began driving away, Vialva pulled out a gun and told the couple: 'Plans have changed.'
The teens then stole the Bagley's money, jewelry and ATM card before locking them in the trunk of the car as they drove around for hours trying to withdraw money from ATMs and seeking to pawn Stacie Bagley's wedding ring.
The Bagleys pleaded for their lives from the trunk.
The teens eventually pulled to the side of the road and poured lighter fluid inside the car. As they did, the Bagleys sang 'Jesus loves us' in the trunk.
Vialva, the oldest of the group, donned a ski mask, opened the trunk and shot the Bagleys in the head.
Stacie Bagley, prosecutors said at trial, was still alive as flames engulfed the car.
During the trial two of the teen co-defendants described Vialva and Bernard as the ringleaders of the grisly crime, and both were sentenced to death while the other defendants received lighter sentences.
Bernard's lawyers have insisted that he had no idea that his accomplices planned to kill Todd and Stacie Bagley (pictured)
As they petition for a stay of execution, Bernard's lawyers have insisted that he was not in control of the situation and that he wasn't aware of Vialva's plans to commit murder.
Stacey Brownstein, an investigator and federal public defender who has been working on Bernard's case since 2013, filed a clemency petition earlier this month.
Brownstein pointed out that four of the nine surviving jurors from Bernard's original trial now support reducing his sentence, while a fifth is unopposed to doing so.
'We think it's significant that the majority of the surviving jurors no longer want their sentence to stand and they want it to be changed to life without parole,' Brownstein told the Waco Tribune-Herald.
'Brandon would never get out, but his life would be saved.'
Gary McClung, one of the four jurors who supports reducing the sentence, said he feels the death penalty was misused in Bernard's case.
'I didn't feel comfortable with it, but I did not stand on that conviction when I should have,' McClung told the Tribune-Herald.
'From the testimony, his demeanor during the trial, I just didn't sense that the intent was ever to kill anyone.'
Bernard is seen with one of his two daughters in prison as he sits on death row
It's unclear how effective Kardashian West's plea will be in blocking Bernard's execution less than two weeks before it is set to take place.
Her foray into criminal justice reform began in 2018 when she petitioned President Donald Trump about Alice Marie Johnson, a 63-year-old grandmother who served 21 years in a Tennessee prison for a non-violent drug offense.
Since then Kardashian has been involved in a number of release campaigns, including for former sex slave Cyntoia Brown and nonviolent drug offender Jeffrey Stringer.
She also reportedly secretly funded a criminal justice campaign called the Buried Alive Project, which helped free 17 inmates who had been handed huge jail sentences for low-level drug offenses.
It's unclear how effective Kardashian West's plea will be in blocking Bernard's execution less than two weeks before it is set to take place. The reality star-turned-prison reform advocate is seen in an Instagram video on Friday
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