KUED and the producers of "Condemned" want you to think about capital punishment.
They're not telling you what to think — the documentary takes neither a pro- nor anti-death penalty stance.
But, in the aftermath of last week's execution of convicted double-murderer Ronnie Lee Gardner, the half-hour "Utah Now" program examines the issue of capital punishment in a different light.
"We reasoned that that's the most reflective time," said Ken Verdoia, KUED's director of productions. "What does it mean when the dust settles from a firing squad?"
The narrative will be set against a backdrop of Gardner's execution, but this is not a report on that event. And it's certainly not a debate on whether Gardner should have faced the firing squad.
It is a more reflective, contemplative piece about how the death penalty affects a community. How it affects those close to both the crime and the punishment.
(Production on the documentary continued through the weekend; it won't be completed until shortly before it airs on Monday evening. The KUED staff shared a series of clips from the program with me before it was finished.)
"Condemned" is, by design, a spare, almost sparse production. It's full of powerful moments when people who have witnessed executions recount their experiences.
"We're interested in the questions that naturally come with the death penalty. Questions of justice and mercy," said producer Doug Fabrizo. "But we're also exploring the passage of time that leads up to this moment and what it means to watch a man die."
And the stories are heartfelt. Emotionally powerful.
VelDean Kirk, whose husband, Nick, was shot and wounded during Gardner's 1985 escape attempt, was interviewed both before and after the execution. She's one of several participants who provide a perspective few involved in the capital-punishment debate have — those who have actually witnessed someone being put to death.
Writer and journalist Charles Bowden — a witness invited as the guest of a condemned man — describes arriving to find a buffet that members of the victim's and killer's family can't bring themselves to eat from.
"There's a dream-walk quality to an execution," he says. "No one can be murdered before their appointed hour, and so the whole thing has that frantic and yet slow quality of a big wedding."
That's a recurring theme from those interviewed — the strange slowing of time as the execution approaches.
Bowden describes the step-by-step, almost theatrical performance of the execution that ended when "slowly, the curtains close again, like a Punch and Judy show."
Brian Price, a former inmate in the Texas prison system, describes preparing more than 200 last meals. UVU professor Alan Clarke, who defended convicted killer Willie Leroy James, recalls sharing his client's last meal.
The stories sometimes seem collectively to be anti-death penalty, but if you listen closely you'll hear that's not the case. The various witnesses describe shattering experiences that still haunt them, and their perspectives on the death penalty vary.
Clarke is against executions. Former reporter Paul Murphy (now a spokesman for the Utah attorney general) witnessed an execution as a journalist and described it as a "moment when you literally can't catch your breath."
Utah political consultant Dave Owen says, "The only value I see in it is retribution." But he goes on to say that that "can be sufficient."
The Most Rev. Canon Mary Jane Nestler of the Salt Lake Episcopal Diocese does not favor the death penalty but hopes Gardner's execution will provide an opportunity for all Utahns to reflect on the larger issue.
"There will be some who will drink their coffee during that following week thinking, 'Well, we got the job done.' There will be no rejoicing. There should be no rejoicing," she said. "Nothing good has come from the death of that man or the death of his (victims). But I think there is something else that will happen. … Our society in this state will once again reflect on whether we've done something good."
And that's the point of "Condemned." It doesn't beat us over the head with one viewpoint or another.
This is an effort to provide perspective.
"To take a deep breath," Verdoia said, "and say, 'Where are we? Do we have the sense that justice has been delivered, or has justice been denied?' "
If you watch
What: "Utah Now" documentary "Condemned"
When: Monday, 9 p.m.
Channel: KUED-Ch. 7
The bottom line: This thought-provoking program is designed not to debate the issue of capital punishment but to provide some perspective on what it means for the community.
e-mail: pierce@desnews.com