Woman who married Death Row killer describes watching him be executed

The wife of a man convicted of a double murder he claimed he didn't commit has recounted what happened on the day of his execution.

Tiana Krasniqi told how she has been plagued by 'flashbacks' of James Broadnax's final moments on 30 April, when he was put to death in the US state of Texas.

The pair got hitched just weeks prior at a maximum security prison in Livingston, with each of them hoping that his execution may be halted at the eleventh hour.

During the ceremony, Krasniqi said she and Broadnax, 37, exchanged 'very deep vows' about their love for one another and each shed tears as they were conscious of his impending death.

"We were trying to not focus too much on what was looming and enjoy the moment, but at the same time, it was not easy," she said.

Krasniqi - a law graduate who hails from southeast London - has now opened up about what it was like to watch a lethal injection being administered to her husband.

Tiana Krasniqi, 31, said what she saw that day was 'horrendous' (ITV)

Broadnax received the death sentence in 2009 after confessing to the fatal shootings of Stephen Swan, 26, and Matthew Butler, 28, outside of a Dallas music studio a year prior.

Prosecutors said that he admitted that he 'pulled the trigger' during the deadly robbery, which he carried out alongside his cousin Demarius Cummings.

They were both reportedly under the influence of PCP-laced weed. PCP is sometimes called 'angel dust', and is a dissociative drug which can cause hallucinations.

Despite Cummings - who is serving life in prison - claiming full responsibility for the double murder in March this year and Broadnax launching appeals, his bid to avoid execution was consistently denied.

Krasniqi, who has revealed she plans to continue the fight to 'clear his name', spoke about what happened on the day of her spouse's execution during an appearance on This Morning on Monday (18 May).

"After his execution, it's just been...it's only been two and a half weeks now," she said. "It's gone so fast, but it has affected me mentally quite a lot."

She touched her husband James Broadnax for the first time after he had died (ITV)

The mother-of-one told hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley that she had to wait in what is dubbed a 'hospitality house' before she eventually received a call to head to the prison.

Explaining what happened after she arrived, Krasniqi continued: "You wait there in like a little cafeteria until the phone rings and they say that he's been - in other words - trapped in, and the IV's been inserted in his veins."

She compared the layout of the building to navigating 'hospital corridors' and said the execution chamber itself was largely bare, aside from 'foldable chairs in the corner'.

Describing what view she was met with, Krasniqi recalled: "You see him right in front of you, in front of a massive window, strapped in the gurney. In that moment, as everybody knows, I screamed.

"My brain couldn't comprehend what my eyes were seeing. It was a horrendous thing to ever see - not just because he's my husband, but in general. Nobody should ever have to see anything like that."

Despite her being separated from Broadnax by thick panes of glass, Krasniqi said she suddenly realised that her husband could still hear her.

The 37-year-old death row inmate insisted he was not responsible for the 2008 murders (TikTok/@tiana.broadnax)

She explained: "So me and him were consistently speaking back and forth throughout the whole thing. We're speaking, we're talking to each other, which kind of in a weird way, it brought a bit of comfort - knowing that we can have our final conversation face to face. But at the same time it just wasn't enough. There was never enough time."

Krasniqi said she 'didn't know how to deal with it in the moment' and noted that she found it difficult to decipher 'what the right reaction was'.

She then told This Morning viewers what it was like to physically touch Broadnax for the first time when she visited his body in a nearby funeral home.

The 31-year-old was not allowed to touch him 'whilst his body was still warm' as officials warned her it would be dangerous for her to do so incase the lethal injection had leaked anywhere.

"I only had 20 minutes with him whilst his body was still warm, and then I didn't see him again until the following Tuesday," Krasniqi said, explaining that her second visit was when she kissed a deceased Broadnax for the first time.

Describing what the weeks since his passing have been like for her, the mum said: "I've lost a lot of weight, mental stress, I can't sleep. I get panic attacks. I get flashbacks of the execution.

"I was so intense for two years on this case that it was like once he passed away, this intensity still stayed. But I'm like, but what am I intense for?

"I was consistently waiting for a phone call. I was consistently waiting for news. And it just all had gone. But it felt weird. It's like you're grieving not only the person but also the intensity that you were in."

Krasniqi said she now intends to sit the bar exam and continue her campaign to clear Broadnax's name, adding: "When you are now fighting for something that you've been in the shoes of, your fight is different.

"The drive is different. So, I definitely want to complete the bar and advocate against the death penalty and also clear his name...The fight hasn't ended yet."