Netflix documentary I Am A Killer explores the crimes of ten Death Row inmates

10 August 2019, 10:00 | Updated: 10 August 2019, 10:01

By Emma Clarke

@emma_clarke_26

The true crime genre has become increasingly popular since Netflix released 'Making A Murderer' in 2015. Now, the streaming site has released a new documentary that has everyone hooked.

From The Staircase and When They See Us, to the chilling Ted Bundy Tapes - there's no denying Netflix has dominated the true crime genre as of late.

Now, the streaming site has released a thrilling new documentary entitled I Am A Killer, which explores the crimes of Death Row inmate, James Robertson, and nine others.

Viewers are calling the new true crime documentary "addictive"and "a must watch", that has "shook me to my core".

So what is it about, exactly? Here's the lowdown on Netflix's I Am A Killer.

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What is I Am A Killer about?

Netflix Original I Am A Killer focuses on ten convicted murderers on Death Row, interviewing them to learn more about their "heinous" crimes, motives and the events leading up to the murders.

While self-confessed murderer David Lewis admits: "I wish I could take back what I did. If I could I would in a heartbeat. After all this time of thinking about it, I know what it means to live now", fellow inmate James Robertson states he "don't feel bad about it [killing someone]", before laughing it off and referring to himself as the "star of the show".

It is for this very reason that viewers are left conflicted and unsure how to feel.

Perhaps one of the most intriguing cases explored by the Netflix documentary is that of Miguel Angel Martinez, who was 17 at the time of his sentencing and became the youngest person ever to be sentenced to death in Texas.

Angel was sentenced to death for his role in a "satanic" killing in 1991, which saw three men turn up to Baptist deacon James Smiley's house, with the intention of robbing money for drugs.

In a tragic turn of events, Miguel and his friends decided to murder the men. Miguel speaks about being "dared" to do so, before they started axing and stabbing the victims.

According to Martinez, he stabbed one of the victims once, then went outside to throw up while his friend Miguel Venegas continued his killing spree.

While there's no denying the depravity of the acts, what has divided Netflix viewers is the fact that Martinez has received a harsher sentence than Venegas.

Who is James Robertson?

Robertson, 54, is awaiting his fate on Death Row in Florida - where, he reveals, he's always wanted to be.

In the Netflix documentary, Robertson openly discusses his aspiration to end up on Death Row when he was younger.

While his criminal life began in 1980 with a minor theft charge, Robertson found himself on the wrong side of the law time and again.

It was during a stint in prison that Robertson carried out murder; in 2008, James used a makeshift garrotte to kill his cellmate Frank Hart.

The doctors who examined the killer after the fact said he "committed the offence in a wilful, deliberate matter with the intended aim of terminating his cellmate's life since he had reached the limit of tolerance".

While Robertson does not apologise or appear to be remorseful in any way, he does suggest that his conditions in prison had been part of the problem: "They just put somebody in the cell, man, and take all of his privileges from him for years and years and years," he said.

"I knew they was going to use any excuse they could to keep me [in solitary confinement]. Any excuse.

"Finally I got mad and I said, 'I'ma go ahead and kill somebody'. It was premeditated."

Who are the other Death Row inmates that feature in the Netflix show?

Other killers featured in the documentary include:

- Kenneth Foster

- Justin Dickens

- Charles Thompson

- David Lewis

- Deandra Buchanan

- Robert Shafer

- Joshua Nelson

- Wayne Doty

When was it released on Netflix?

I Am A Killer was released in the US last year, but became available to UK Netflix users from the 3 August.

All ten episodes are on the site for you to binge-watch now.