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Convicted Gaston Co. killer tells Channel 9 'I am already dead'

GASTONIA, N.C. — Convicted murderer Danny Hembree told Eyewitness News he wants his state-mandated automatic appeals to stop.

"I am already dead," Hembree said. "My whole entire life has been a train wreck. I can't blame it on anybody but myself."

Last year, Hembree was sentenced to death after being convicted of the murder of Heather Catterton. His second trial, for the death of Randi Saldana, is expected to begin Tuesday.

After four months on death row, Hembree believes many men are in jail on weak evidence and that black men are more likely to be sentenced to death than white men. He told Eyewitness News he wants the governor to get rid of the death penalty, but not for him.

"I like to get (death) out of the way because I got to do it anyway," Hembree said. "Death row at Central Prison in North Carolina is the very last place anybody on earth would want to be."

He said the state is wasting money keeping him on death row.

"To be honest with you, I don't care one way or the other about the death penalty, as far as it pertains to me," he said. "I feel trapped. There is no anxiety. I have basically expected what's going on."