A Killer Uncaged

Hey, Mama.

Oh, gosh. It's good to see you.

- Love you. - Love you too.

Let's get outta here.

Let's go.

Walking out of those gates,

it's overwhelming.

Because when you dream of something for so long,

and for it to finally come true...

"Is it really real?"

Starting to shake.

- Are you? - It's starting.

- Gonna take... - Reality's starting to hit me.

Thirty years ago, when I was incarcerated,

George W. Bush Senior was the President of the United States.

The Cold War had just ended.

There was no internet.

There were no mobile phones.

I've been gone so long,

and society has evolved so much,

that...

I mean, I can't even begin to understand

the things that I'm gonna experience.

You know, it's just... It's gonna be amazing.

I mean, I'm in awe of everything around me.

The joy and the happiness, and just to be able to hold a cell phone

and to have real world clothes on.

I never dreamed that

I would be walking free

thirty years later.

Is the door open?

- Unlocked? - No. I gotta unlock it.

You ready?

- Yeah, I'm ready. - Here we go.

Okay.

You wanna put your books here for right now,

or do you wanna carry 'em on in the room, or...?

I'm gonna go and put 'em in the room.

- Put 'em in the room? Okay. - Yeah.

Let me get behind you, I want you to go in first.

Oh, man!

Oh...

Yeah.

- That's an air mattress. - I know, be careful.

I'm 275, I might pop it.

- Oh, I hope not. - I hope not.

I popped my mama's waterbed. She was mad at me for that.

No, the only thing that... I don't want you to be uncomfortable.

- Air conditioning. - Yeah.

- The simple things of life... - Yeah.

That you don't get in a penitentiary.

- That's gonna become my friend. - Like the room or not?

- I love it. Yeah. - Okay.

I love it.

- I was gonna say... - Love it. Yeah!

Come on, compared to a cubicle...

- Right. - I mean, come on.

- My cubicle, Mama, was actually... - Hey.

- I got you... - Right here.

- That's how big my cubicle was. - That's it?

Right here. This space here is what I lived in...

for 30 years.

- This is beautiful. - Good.

Thanks for all your hard work, Mama.

You're welcome, baby.

Dear Father,

thank you for this meal, God.

This is our first meal together, Father.

Please bless the food, God, and we thank you for all things

in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen.

Okay, you ready?

- Yeah. - Go make a mess.

It's finger food.

- Except for that. - It is, it really is.

Yeah.

Hmm.

So how is it?

- Great. - Okay... good.

Well, isn't it? It's great.

I love it.

I mean, actually, there's more than what I need,

and I can enjoy myself,

- and I ain't given just one piece, and... - Right.

And you're not on a time schedule,

- but... - "Get up.

- Is that what they do? - You got 15 minutes to eat"...

It's like five, six minutes.

"Hey, get up. Time to go."

- Really? - There's so many people,

they get institutionalized.

When they get up, they do the same. Knock on the table and get up.

"Why y'all doing that?" That's institutionalized.

Being free after all them years,

and seeing the scenery,

and experiencing it all over again,

when before...

I looked at life and took it for granted.

But now...

it's just, my perception has totally changed.

I went to the door, and I was looking out,

and three little hummingbirds come flying up

to the hummingbird feeder,

and I just thought that was the most beautiful thing.

Trying to put it into words is...

It's hard to do.

I mean, to have a place to call home now...

is amazing to me.

Mama Carole's been such a blessing to me.

For her to open her heart,

and to open her house,

and her life,

to me...

that's something the average person doesn't do.

Because who allows a convicted murderer,

coming off of death row, did 30 years,

to come home to them and allow them to call that home,

and to call you Mom?

She means so much to me.

I want her to understand that she's valued.

And in order to do that, I have to

humble myself before her and before God.

Who you gonna douse?

Don't even!

Ever been to Wet 'n Wild?

- What? - You ever been to Wet 'n Wild?

Uh... no...

It's a swimming place.

And?

It's where you get in the water.

And?

Can I get you to go sit on the recliner?

- Really? - Yes.

Yes, ma'am.

You was snooping while I was gone, weren't you?

- Yes, I was. - I feared as much.

Yes, I was.

You ready?

Jesus said...

"You will know them

out of love."

And I have the utmost respect

and love

for you.

And it is my mission and responsibility

to serve you

and to love you...

because

when there was no way...

God made a way

by bringing you into my life.

I know you've sacrificed...

a lot

for me.

You're a blessing, Mama Carole.

When I couldn't go home to my own mama, God brought me another mama.

And I thank you

for being there for me.

- I love you, Mama. - I love you, too.

It was a great day.

Very special day.

As far as knowing Dale, I think I'm just

kind of scratching the surface.

I know he has a beautiful heart,

and his love for God,

but every day is gonna be

finding out something new, something more about him,

and it's like any relationship. You don't really

know each other until you're together.

I know very little

about what Dale did to be put on death row.

I figured in time, Dale would tell me.

Dale was not remorseful about it.

The murder didn't even faze him.

We were on a lot of drugs.

He was probably totally numb to everything that was going around.

My name is Shawn Anttila.

Dale Wayne Sigler was a good friend of mine,

up until the time

when he committed the murder.

The day after the murder, he came to my house.

It was just us, he told me everything.

I remember Dale telling me details

about him going in there and hanging out,

and pointing the gun at the guy, telling him: "You need to open the safe."

And he said he got the money,

"You don't have to do this."

"Yes, I do." He pulled out... He said,

He goes, "That's when I shot him."

"'Cause he knew me, he knew my name, he could point me out."

Dale did know the victim, because he would hang out

at that Subway shop.

We had a friend that worked there, and he'd go and see our friend.

That's why the guy let him in and was comfortable being around him,

and he didn't see him as a threat.

Dale tried to say it was 'cause he was gay.

"Yeah, I killed that faggot."

That was the way he wanted people to look at him,

"Don't fuck with him, he's gonna fuck us."

That's how he liked it. He liked people to be scared of him.