Brit woman to marry Texas death row killer just weeks before scheduled execution

A British woman is currently preparing to marry a man on death row in Texas, knowing full well that their wedding could take place just days before he’s executed.

The 20-minute ceremony itself will be brief, strictly controlled and conducted entirely through a glass screen. There will be no physical contact allowed at any point.

Tiana Krasniqi, 31, from London, is currently in the Lone Star State ahead of the wedding to James Broadnax, 37. He has been on death row since 2008 after being convicted of killing two men. His execution is currently scheduled for April 30.

Understandably, that date hangs over everything that the pair have got planned. It’s just two very short weeks after the pair are due to marry.

It’s not exactly the romantic image that most folk have in mind when they conjure up images of weddings. Tiana knows that. She also knows that she’s going into it alone and doing something that few other people can fully understand or appreciate.

‘Nobody is happy, it’s not your typical, conventional relationship, there’s not been any support,’ she said.

Despite that, she insists she understands the reaction and that she isn’t holding any grudges against anyone.

The relationship didn’t start in a conventional way. Tiana first contacted Broadnax in 2024 while researching racial disparities in the US justice system. It wasn’t meant to become personal..

‘I contacted him, I was looking at cases that fell within that category within the trial court, and James was the person I picked after my research,’ she explained.

At first, it was just conversation. Then their emails turned into long daily calls.

‘About two of three months later, we kind of realised that it was more than a study, it was never intentional,’ she said.

Those calls soon became a routine. Not quick check-ins, but hours at a time. Soon, there was an emotional attachment on both sides.

‘I know a lot of people would say, “You haven’t spent the day or a night with him” but if you speak to somebody every day for six or seven hours a day, you go through the same ups and downs.’

Eventually, she travelled to Houston to meet him in person. Even then, it was only through glass.

That remained the case throughout a 90-day stay. By the end of that period, she’d decided to marry him. The proposal itself wasn’t exactly a grand gesture.

‘It was a visitation. And I guess it’s not the most romantic, he spoke to me about it and he confessed everything he felt and then asked.’

Broadnax had already told her his appeal to the Supreme Court had been denied. He wasn’t expecting anything more from life at that point.

‘He pretty much said to me that his appeal got denied from the Supreme Court so he wasn’t looking for anything, and I was like, “I’m not either because it’s not realistic” and it was just purely, “let’s just be friends”.’

That didn’t last long. And it’s clear from how Tiana speaks of James that she has a deep affection for him: ‘He’s very intelligent, very well spoken and very respectful,’ she says. ‘He is your normal person, just the fact that he’s on death row makes a difference, but just the way he is as a person.’

The case itself is both complex and controversial. Broadnax was convicted of ambushing and killing Stephen Swan, 26, and Matthew Butler, 28, as they left a music studio in 2008.

Questions have been raised about the trial. Tiana points to claims of racial bias in jury selection. Seven black potential jurors were excluded. The final jury included 11 white jurors and one black juror.

She also disputes the strength of the evidence. In particular, she highlights the lack of DNA linking Broadnax to the weapons.

Tiana told This Morning: ‘The new appeal is that the co-defendant, his cousin, had come out and signed admittance to say that he had done it, and it also matched the DNA… the DNA excluded James from both the weapon and the victim’s clothing, it always matched to Demarius Cummings.’

That cousin, Demarius Cummings, is already serving life without parole. He has recently claimed he acted alone. However, there are yet more complications.

When first interviewed by police, Broadnax reportedly showed no remorse. He allegedly said he would ‘laugh in the face’ of one victim’s widow. That detail still sits in the background of the case.

Tiana challenges Broadnax’s original confession, however. She says it came under questionable circumstances.

‘With his confession, I have to clear up, he was under the influence of PCP when he was interviewed, he had only been interviewed four hours after the arrest and he had made clear to the police he was high.’

She argues the interview conditions were also unnecessarily intens, saying multiple officers were present during questioning and the pressure was dialled up.

‘They did put five interviewers in front of him and he took the blame for something that he didn’t do, and he acted in a way that showed he was under the influence.’

The prosecution also used some of his scribbled-down rap lyrics during the trial.

Tiana said: ‘He also had a bout 40 pages of rap lyrics, and when it came to the guilty verdict, the jurors had asked to see the rap lyrics twice before they made a decision to see if he was of future dangerousness.’

She believes that shaped the outcome. In her view, it painted a misleading picture. ‘They tried to make him out as a psychopath but nobody ever evaluated him directly.’

Despite everything, Tiana insists she isn’t going into this naively. She says that she fully understands the risks and the scrutiny.

‘I’m very realistic, and I understand people will always judge… however, I also understand the case very well and this is not the UK, you do get wrongfully convicted in the US and I’m not going into this blindly.’

For now, the focus is on the appeal. Understandably, Tiana’s actively fighting to delay or prevent the execution. She knows the reality might not change. That’s all just part of the weight of decision that she’s made.

‘It’s been a process, it’s been a lot of conversations, a lot of prayer. You still have hope because the evidence is so overwhelming that he didn’t commit the crime,’ she said.

‘Nobody is going to understand it. But it’s okay.’