British woman marrying death row murderer today despite never touching

A British woman is set to get married today to a death row inmate in Texas, with his execution date being set for just a couple of weeks from now.

Tiana Krasniqi is 31 and met her soon-to-be American husband whilst studying a master’s degree in international human rights law, with her particular focus being on racial disparities in Texas death row bringing the two together.

Her fiancée James Broadnax was sentenced in 2008 to the killings of Stephen Swan and Matthew Butler, with his cousin Demarius Cummings also being convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment for the crime.

He has been on death row for almost two decades, meeting Tiana in October of 2024 16 years after he was sentenced to death.

Broadnax denies the killing, stating that his confession was made whilst he was high on drugs (Texas Department of Criminal Justice)

His case is a well-known one in the US, with claims of racism persisting for years after it was found that his jury was made up of 11 white jurors and one black juror, with seven potential black jurors being blocked by prosecutors.

Speaking about meeting James, Tiana told ITV’s This Morning: “I contacted him. I was looking at cases that fell within that category of racial disparity within the trial court and James was the person that I had picked after my research about.”

She stated that they both realised it was ‘more than a study’ but claimed it was never intentional that the pair would fall for one another.

The pair are getting married in prison today (ITV)

James proposed to her during visitation, something the 31-year-old mother claimed was ‘not the most romantic’, but added: “He spoke to me about it and he pretty much confessed everything [about his feelings for her] and yeah, he asked.”

One of the most surprising aspects of the pair’s relationship is the fact that they have never touched, and never will unless his appeal is granted, even on their wedding day.

She explained the process saying: “Texas has a very strict rule about no contact with death row inmates. It’s a very quick, it's a very quick 20-minute ceremony. You have an officiant, you say your vows and that's it and it's time to go.”

Tiana spoke about her hopes for an appeal, claiming that whilst he had admitted to killing the two men, he gave that confession whilst high on PCP. James’ cousin Demarius has also since admitted to killing the two men, however his appeal has not yet been accepted and he is set to be executed 30 April.

James’ guilty verdict was also in part influenced by his rap lyrics which prosecutors used to prove he had posed a threat of ‘future dangerousness’.

Several celebrities have spoken out to try and save the man’s life, including rappers Young Thug, T.I., and Travis Scott who all filed briefs at the U.S. Supreme Court in March of this year.

At the time of writing James’ execution is still set to go ahead, with his latest appeal denied despite his cousin admitting to the killings.