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Kim Kardashian on Thursday afternoon started an hourly countdown before Brandon Bernard’s execution tonight, adding that she has been ‘crying all morning’ while Bella Hadid says she has been crying too.
Kardashian, who has been pleading with President Donald Trump to commute the death sentence of Bernard, 40, and allow him to live the rest of his life in prison, tweeted at noon: “ I’ve been crying all morning. Brandon Bernard will be executed in 6 hours.
At 1:00 p.m. M., The reality show wrote: ‘Brandon Bernard will be executed in 5 hours and all I can think about is his family and children and how they will feel when their loved one is gone.’
She followed up on that tweet with one at 2pm saying: ‘4 hours until Brandon Bernard is executed.’
Meanwhile, Hadid has also been sharing information about Bernard and even said that she has been crying over the whole thing.
I can not stop crying. This is so fucked up, ‘the model shared on her Instagram story.
Scroll down to see the video
Kim Kardashian started an hourly countdown on Thursday afternoon before Brandon Bernard’s execution tonight, adding that she has been ‘crying all morning’. Kardashian had previously pleaded with Trump to commute Bernard’s sentence
Kardashian tweeted at noon: ‘I’ve been crying all morning. Brandon Bernard will be executed in 6 hours’
Just after 3pm, Kardashian tweeted: ‘Brandon Bernard will be executed in 3 hours.’
A few minutes later, he wrote: ‘Terrible news from the 7th Circuit: ORDERED that the Emergency Motion for Stay of Execution pending appeal be DENIED. This is why judges matter. #SaveBrandonBernard ‘.
Bernard is scheduled to be executed Thursday at 5 p.m. CT at the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, where he is currently being held, after a federal judge denied a request from his attorneys to stop the execution on Tuesday.
Following that news, Kardashian wrote: ‘Brandon Bernard, a 40-year-old father, will be executed tomorrow by our federal government.
‘Having met Brandon, I am heartbroken by this execution. I ask @realDonaldTrump to grant Brandon a commutation and allow him to serve his prison sentence, ” he added.
Bernard is scheduled to be executed tomorrow at the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, where he is currently being held.
Bernard and his accomplice Christopher Vialva were sentenced to death in 2000 after a jury found them guilty of stealing a car and murdering Todd and Stacie Bagley, married Christian youth ministers from Iowa, at the Fort Hood military base in Texas the year before.
They were among five members of the local gang 212 Piru Bloods who participated in the murder after the Bagleys attended a church service.
Vialva was executed by lethal injection in September and became the first black man to face punishment since the Trump administration resumed federal executions after a 17-year hiatus.
Bernard, who was 18 at the time, is one of five executions scheduled before Trump leaves office in January.
Kardashian first drew attention to Bernard’s case last month after his lawyers appealed to Trump for clemency, citing the regret of five jurors from his trial who now say he should serve life in prison.
Five of the nine surviving jurors submitted affidavits or statements that were included in Bernard’s clemency petition saying that Bernard’s lawyers did a poor job defending him.
Bernard’s attorneys say information showing that Bernard held a lowly position in the gang that killed the Bagleys was not presented to the jury.
His lawyers also argued that he was not present when Vialva kidnapped the Bagleys and forced them into the trunk of his car.
Later, after Vialva shot the couple in the trunk, Bernard followed Vialva’s orders to set the car on fire, according to trial records.
While all five jurors still agree that both Bernard and Vialva were guilty, they said that Bernard did not appear to have intended to kill the Bagleys.
Bernard and his accomplice Christopher Vialva were sentenced to death in 2000 after a jury found them guilty of stealing a car and murdering Todd and Stacie Bagley (above), married Christian youth ministers from Iowa, at the Iowa military base. Fort Hood in Texas the year before.
Bernard’s attorneys say information showing that Bernard held a lowly position in the gang that killed the Bagleys was not presented to the jury. In the photo above, Bernard holds up a photo of himself with his family in an undated photo of the prison.
In a series of tweets last month, Kardashian condemned Bernard’s crimes, but said she didn’t think he deserved to die for something he did when he was 18 years old.
First, I want to say that a terrible crime was committed and that me fighting for a stay of execution does not take away the sympathy I have for Todd and Stacie Bagley from the victim, and their families. My heart breaks for everyone involved, ” Kardashian wrote in a thread.
While Brandon was involved in this crime, his role was minor compared to that of the other teens involved, two of whom are now home from jail.
Bernard’s co-defendant, Christopher Vialva (pictured), was executed in September. He became the first black man to face punishment since the Trump administration resumed carrying out federal executions after a 17-year hiatus.
In fact, Brandon was not part of the initial carjacking that took place and was shocked when the robbery turned into a homicide and Todd and Stacie were shot in the head by one of the other teens.
The gunman then turned to Brandon, gun still in hand, and told him to set fire to the car Todd and Stacie were in to destroy the evidence. Brandon believed they were both dead, although Stacie did not, and he feared for his own life, so he made the terrible decision to comply.
At trial, Brandon’s attorney came up short by not hiring any expert who could have explained to the jury why Brandon decided to leave the video game store that night or how he had grown up in an abusive home, or how his homeless father would. had stopped looking. for protection on the streets.
His trial attorney also didn’t tell the jury how sorry he was or anything about his background. We now know that this testimony would have saved his life.
In fact, two jurors who have since stated that if they had learned of Brandon’s background or that just a few months after he was 18 his brain was still developing, they would NOT have voted in favor of the death penalty.
Recently, the prosecutor herself, the person who helped put Brandon on death row, also came forward and asked for his life to be spared, as he was the least guilty of the five teenagers involved.
Kardashian explained Bernard’s case in a Twitter thread Sunday
Kardashian’s Twitter thread about Bernard is shown in its entirety above
Although all five teens were black, 11 of the 12 jurors were white. This, along with the misleading and incomplete information given to the jury, deprived the boys of a fair trial. Instead of being executed, Brandon could serve his sentence in prison.
‘Now he has been on death row for over 20 years without disciplinary drafts. He uses his time to reach out to at-risk youth, advising them not to stray from the Lord’s path (or to follow in his adolescent footsteps). ‘
According to court records, those involved were looking for someone to rob when they found Todd Bagley using a pay phone at a store and agreed to take them in his car.
The Bagleys were returning home from a Sunday church service while visiting Texas from Iowa.
In the back seat, Vialva pulled out a gun and ordered Bagley and his wife to get into the trunk of the car.
The teens then stole Bagley’s money, jewelry and ATM card before locking them in the trunk of the car as they drove for hours trying to withdraw money from ATMs and trying to pawn Stacie Bagley’s wedding ring.
The Bagleys begged for their lives from the trunk.
The teens eventually pulled over to the side of the road and poured lighter fluid into the car. As they did so, the Bagleys sang “Jesus Loves Us” in the trunk.
Vialva, the oldest of the group, donned a ski mask, opened the trunk and shot the Bagleys in the head.
Prosecutors said at trial that Stacie was still alive when flames engulfed the car.
During the trial, two of the teenage co-defendants described Vialva and Bernard as the ringleaders of the grisly crime.
While Vialva and Bernard received death sentences, the other defendants received lighter sentences.
Since then, Bernard’s lawyers have insisted that he was not in control of the situation and that he was unaware of Vialva’s plans to commit murder.
