Oregon Public Broadcasting

The State of Washington is scheduled to execute its first prisoner in eight years just after midnight Thursday. Cal Coburn Brown was convicted in 1991 of a brutal murder and rape of a woman in SeaTac.

The execution will happen in Walla Walla, an idyllic town that’s nestled amid wheat fields and vineyards at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Correspondent Anna King reports.

Bob Austin has worked at his family’s delicatessen in Walla Walla since the 1970s. It’s a bustling community hub on Main Street.

Before the family became famous for homemade soups and bread, Austin’s father worked for the state penitentiary as a councilor. Austin says initially his father was for the death penalty, but that view changed after witnessing executions.

Bob Austin: “It’s one of those job requirements you can’t get out of. You can’t see a man drop and hang more than a couple times in your life without changing your attitude in my opinion.”

Austin says many residents of Walla Walla ignore the state pen altogether. But there will be some talk in the shop today about it.

He says predictably there will be those who light candles to protest the death penalty outside the prison, and those who yell “hang ‘em high.”