Ever since he was sixteen years old, James Robertson was in and out of jail. He was originally thrown in for a petty crime. Instead of disciplining him, that experience awakened something in him and he still can't explain. He started committing more and more crimes once he left. Since then, he was in and out of the slammer for the next 30 years.
Robertson would consider himself a convict, not an inmate. He thrived in jail. He knew that good behavior would get him out, so he did the opposite. He was combative and aggressive by nature, so he would naturally find himself in trouble.
At one point, he knew that he would never leave. But not seeing the end in sight was a bit unsettling, so he figured that his next goal should be scoring a spot on Death Row.
To a normal person, the desire to be on Death Row would be bizarre. Robinson knew that life on Death Row would be easier and cushier, plus he would have a date when he was finally able to leave...
He knew that he had to kill. But, he didn't want to take an innocent victim. A guy that was in jail for assault or drug charges wasn't good enough. He decided to wait out for a child molester. Lo and behold, that's exactly what he got in Frank Hart.
Hart was sentenced to jail after catching a child molestation charge. Most people know that convicts don't appreciate child abusers... Robinson knew that this was his prime target.
On a cold December night in 2008, Robertson strangled his cellmate to death. It was all calculated. He waited for lights out, and for the guard to do his walk. Once the guard passed, he knew that he had an hour to make the kill. It was almost too easy for him.
It took a while for Robertson to actually catch the death sentence. It was hotly debated for years before it was finally put in place. Even though it's what he wanted, he had people fighting for his "right' to stay out. For someone like him, there was no other way out and he did what he had to do.
More of his story can be found on Netflix's I am a Killer.