JAMES Robertson is a convicted killer and burglar who was the focus of the very first episode of Netflix’s I am a Killer.
The explosive episode made headlines, after it examined James’ murder of his cellmate as part of a bid to be put on death row.
The new series of Netflix’s I am a Killer, which landed on the streaming service on October 16, 2024, will feature a new batch of convicted killers.
Here’s everything you need to know about James Robertson and his plan to be put on death row.
Life of crime
Crime had been a part of James’ life since he was young, but his cousin, Darrell, claims that he wasn’t “born evil”.
Darrell told the Netflix documentary makers that he believed James’ problems began when he was a toddler, because he had “never been loved”.
Years of alleged neglect manifested in the 1980s when James committed a string of violent crimes, including burglary and aggravated assault.
Shortly after his 17th birthday, he found himself jailed for his crimes and sentenced to ten years in prison.
He had fifteen years added on to his sentence when he was blamed for the death of a man in prison, but James maintains that he was innocent of that crime.
Then, he stole a guard’s gun in a crime that saw him have five more years added onto his sentence.
James became known for his violent behavior and tried to stab several other inmates, forcing the prison guards to send him to close managed confinement, a form of near-solitary confinement.
Once there, James remained by himself for 23 hours a day and only received six hours a week for exercise.
Luxuries including his TV were taken away and he was given restricted work opportunities in the prison.
Death row wish
James spent twenty years in close managed confinement which he said made him “mad”.
He told his interviewer on I am a Killer: “You just lose all motivation.
“The guards humiliate you all the time and treat you like you’re a bug.
“You’re sat in that cell all day. It’s inhumane.”
“Finally, I got mad and said ‘I’m going to go ahead and kill’.”
In December 2008, while staying at the Charlotte Correctional Institution in Florida, James hatched a plan to be sent to death row.
That month, he murdered his cellmate Frank Hart who had been in prison for committing lewd acts in the presence of a child.
James waited until Frank fell asleep and waited for the gap between the guards’ patrols.
Then, he nudged Frank awake and strangled him to death with a pair of socks.
After a five minute struggle, Frank was dead.
When asked about the crime on I am a Killer, James freely admitted: “I don’t feel bad about it”.
James’ battle to reach death row
A three-year legal battle ensued after James was charged with the murder in 2009.
The court battle made headlines, since it was a rare case of an inmate deliberately seeking to have the death penalty considered as a punishment.
His second lawyer finally succeeded in having his client sentenced to death in 2012, after James fired his first attorney for not supporting his death row bid.
When asked about how he would like to see his sentence carried out, James said: “I’d much rather have a needle stuck in me than be electrocuted but I could go either way.
“You read how it’s ‘inhumane’ but that’s a load of bulls**t.
You don’t feel anything.”
However, James’ death sentence was not carried out and he remains in prison, as of October 20, 2024.
He is reportedly writing a book entitled The Smiley Faced Man which is a third-person account of his life and is said to explain his traumatic childhood.
The book has been promoted by an Instagram account named @james.sfmbook, which claims to “share in the creation process and promote the book written by James Robertson from the Netflix series ‘I am a Killer’”.
