As the story goes, Douglas Feldman was out in Plano for a night ride on his Harley in 1998 when a big rig piloted by Robert Everett blew past him and cut into his lane, missing him by inches. Feldman pulled his 9mm and put a few holes into the back of the trailer. Then he gunned the bike up alongside the cab and unloaded, killing Everett.
According to court records, Feldman circled back around to make sure the trucker was dead. On his way home, he passed an Exxon station and put two rounds into the back of Nicholas Velasquez, an Exxon tanker driver. A week later, he shot and killed Antonio Vega outside a Jack-in-the-Box because he was standing next to an 18-wheeler.
Feldman got caught and admitted the killings. He was sentenced to death in 1999, and in September of last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled against him. That's basically the end of the line. His execution is set for July. So, Gawker wrote the guy letter, curious about what he had to say for himself as his date with the gallows approaches. Turns out, some pretty interesting things, including a random request for psychedelics.
He starts by figuring Gawker was "really fishing for something interesting or unique to post." I don't know when the last time he saw the Internet was, but yeah.
Feldman is more or less resigned to his fate, and the cold reality that Gov. Rick Perry is more likely to make out with State Attorney General Greg Abbott on the steps of the governor's mansion -- then run to be Abbott's Lt. Gov. -- than he is to grant Feldman a pardon.
He goes on to ruminate about the human fascination with carnage, and about how, most often, those who perpetrate it are schmucks who don't have the resources or the wherewithal to get away with it or defend themselves in court. The rich guys avoid the needle.
Of course, most of the people on death row are just people who got caught up in a robbery, drug deal or sexual encounter (or marital conflict) in which someone got killed. Thats why they are so easy to execute because they are poor, unknown, low social class people who can't defend themselves against the criminal justice system very well. Rich people and crafty people are better equipped to evade the death penalty. You might call death row "Losers Row."
In closing, he asks Gawker to mail him some "LSD Hydrate," not because he wants one last hoo-rah (worst trip ever?) but because of its usefulness to alleviate "pre-death anxiety" and as "an anti-psychotic" (10 bars of Xanax might work better).
