Owens is set to be executed by lethal injection in the state's first execution in 13 years. This despite a key witness who testified against Owens now proclaiming his innocence.

A South Carolina inmate scheduled to be executed Friday is asking Gov. Henry McMaster to spare his life, something no governor in the state has done since the death penalty was restarted nearly 50 years ago.

Freddie Owens' execution appears to be moving forward despite a sworn statement from the man who testified against him that Owens wasn't even at the crime scene.

A deeply troubled South Carolina inmate scarred by a traumatic childhood wrote letters on death row that at times threaten the ones he loves in chilling terms and at others show a vulnerable man who describes himself as being "fragile as a child.