'I Am A Killer: Released' Review: Dale Sigler's death row reversal and surprise confession bring mixed feelings
Netflix has a slew of true crime documentaries and docuseries such as 'Making A Murderer' and 'Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness', but none of them are probably as chilling as 'I Am A Murderer', which follows convicts on death row and features interviews of them as they recount the crimes that led to their sentencing. The docuseries featured people like 54-year-old James Robertson, who is awaiting execution in Florida for killing his cellmate Frank Hart and Miguel Angel Martinez, who was the youngest person ever to be sentenced to death in Texas aged 17, to name a few.
The streaming service's latest offering, 'I Am A Killer: Released' follows along similar lines, but instead follows the story of one out of seven people who got their death sentences changed in Texas. Dale Wayne Sigler was sentenced to death in 1991 for the murder of John William Zeltner Jr at a Subway sandwich shop in Arlington, Texas, where the latter was working. Sigler had gone to the shop one night in April 1990 and shot Zeltner six times in the chest and twice in the back of the head. He also stole approximately $450 from the cash register. After the murder, Sigler repeatedly boasted to his friends, one of whom tipped off the police. Sigler was arrested six days after the murder.
In 1993, Texas changed its laws regarding jury selection. Sigler’s team successfully argued that this invalidated his sentence, which was changed to life imprisonment. He would be eligible for parole in 30 years, according to Texas law. 'I Am A Killer: Released' follows Sigler has he is released into parole into the custody of Carole Whitworth, a woman with whom he began correspondence while in prison. In the docuseries, we also learned that Sigler became religious during his incarceration and even became an ordained minister. Once Sigler is released on parole, he is placed under one year's house arrest confined to Whitworth's home, where she has given him a bedroom.
The crux of the docuseries is supposedly a shocking confession from Sigler, who towards the end of the episode reveals that the robbery came after the murder -- to cover up his true intentions of the murder. While the veracity of Sigler's changed motive cannot be confirmed given that Zeltner has been dead for thirty years, it is a story that Sigler likes to tell, given the number of instances that the docuseries shows -- something the investigating officer of the case, Tommy Lenoir disapproves of and potentially does not believe.
Lenoir's reaction to Sigler's account may be familiar to viewers who themselves may question Sigler's motives in turning himself into a victim of the crime he committed. Another instance that does not sit well is when Sigler insists he is not homophobic -- Zeltner was reportedly openly gay --, but that he does not believe in homosexuality because he believes it to be an "abomination to God." Multiple signals might make the viewer suspicious, though it is not up to us to mete out the verdict. Sigler's changed motive does not change the terms of his sentencing or parole.
As such, 'I Am A Killer: Released' often feels incomplete and leaves the viewer feeling like they did not gain anything insightful from the nearly two hours that would be spent on it. Much of the docuseries seem to drag and we wonder whether Sigler's story could have been told in a much shorter period of time. Parts of the series are quite interesting and that it features Zeltner's half-brothers and officials involved in the investigation ensures that it is not just Sigler's side that we are hearing.
'I Am A Killer: Released' is now streaming on Netflix.