My Daughter's Killer

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2:37She was very beautiful. She had the biggest, brownest eyes, and her heart was so good. This was the first newspaper article. This was the crucifix from her casket. In a handmade cedar chest in her Houston, Texas home... This was her little gawky stage. Paula Curland keeps her memories of her daughter Mitzi under lock and key. I'm just extremely protective of the contents. Well, you can see how old the papers are. It's the first time I've gone through them in 10 years. On most days, even opening the chest is just too painful. When Mitzi was murdered, I just died. But today, Paula has to look for one favorite photograph.

3:30I'm going to wear her picture right here on my chest. That she'll wear to one remarkable meeting. The last pictures he saw of her was her laying on the floor with 28 stab wounds. That's the reason we're here. In just a few days, Paula Curland will finally meet the man who murdered her daughter face to face. I can't bring Mitzi back, but I can make her memory a lot more pleasant than it is now. Will this do that? That's what I'm working for. What could he possibly say to you that would make you feel any better? I don't think that he can say anything that would make me feel better. But I can say some things that will make me feel better.

4:17Things she's been waiting to say ever since that terrible night in 1986, the night of Mitzi's 21st birthday. Mitzi came home late to the house she shared in Austin, Texas, with her roommate, Kelly Farquhar. These girls were asleep in their beds, minding their own business. Mitzi had been out celebrating her birthday. Carla Connolly was an Austin prosecutor. It was very, very brutal. She says the horror began when an intruder broke in. He jumped the fence of Mitzi and Kelly's home, went into the house through a back door. When the girls started screaming, the intruder started stabbing. First, Kelly.

4:58He slit her throat ear to ear, almost decapitating her. He killed Kelly, then Mitzi. Mitzi was huddled in the corner of a closet with her body covered in stab wounds. Mitzi was stabbed 28 times. She died a horrible death, a frightening death. Can you imagine that your last thought in this world being of somebody stabbing you? With the girls dead, the killer might have gotten away. But that night, there was someone else in the house. Okay, you can throw the rock when we get to the water. These days, Ron Ross lives with his wife and two kids, just a few miles from the murder scene. But back in 1986, Ron was Mitzi's new boyfriend.

5:53She was a beautiful woman. She always had a smile on her face. He'd been celebrating her birthday and had fallen asleep at her house. She came back screaming my name into the room and it was pitch black and I reached up to turn on the light. Ron bolted out of bed and fought for his life. Our fight was hand to hand, face to face the whole time. Ron was stabbed 19 times before the killer turned and ran. Ron made it outside and collapsed. A neighbor called the police. The crime here was brutal and frightening. There was no motive and no suspect. The police, though, did have one significant lead. As he fought for his life, Ron Ross had managed to turn the murderer's own knife against him, cutting him in the arm.

6:42Now, whoever he was, wherever he was, the cops knew the killer would be hurt and looking for help. He drips blood onto the carpet, out the walkway, and all the way out the backyard onto the fence and onto the leaves. Police followed that blood trail, canvassed the neighborhood, and found two witnesses who said a friend of theirs had just come by asking for bandages. I got a call from Ronnie's father. Dale said, baby, they got the bastard. And I said, you're kidding. He said, no. And he said, his name is John Wayne Nobles. Jonathan Wayne Nobles, a 25-year-old ex-con with a history of petty crime and mental illness.

7:27He'd been abusing drugs since he was 10 years old. Detective Dusty Hescue made the arrest. Not in doubt in my mind, he'd have killed somebody else if we hadn't have caught him. He was there when Nobles gave this chilling confession. Was she screaming? I believe so. Did you start to stab her? Yes, I did stab her. Could you feel the knife going into our body? I don't recall. He just never showed any remorse. I mean, it was kind of like he smiled all the way through the whole time. In his confession, Nobles never said why he committed the crimes. Later, he blamed the drugs. He had a terrible, terrible past.

8:12Mental illness. Not any of us have had a wonderful, perfect past. And his abusive childhood. But we didn't kill someone, he did. Nobles offered the same reasons at his trial a year later, but the jury didn't buy it. The trial lasted more than a month, and when it was over, it took the jury of eight women and four men less than three hours to reach its decision. The verdict? Guilty. The sentence? Death. Then, before he was led away to death row, Jonathan Nobles did something nobody expected. he spoke to Paula Curlin. His exact words to me were, I'm really very sorry, and if I could give my life right now to bring hers back, I would.

9:03And I said, that just isn't enough.

9:14More than a decade later, it still isn't enough. But now, Paula says, there is one thing that might finally bring her peace of mind. I sat in a courtroom with him for 13 months before he went to death row, and I've been trying to see him ever since. That's right. Amazing as it sounds, ever since the trial, Paula Curlin has wanted to go to death row. He's sentenced to prison, but so are we. Look her daughter's killer in the eye. We've been imprisoned for 12 years, and it's time for us to be free. And tell him exactly what he's done to her. It's going to help me close a chapter and hopefully get on with my life.

10:04But year after year, Nobles refused to meet with Paula. Until now, 12 years since the murders, less than two weeks before his execution, Jonathan Nobles is finally ready to talk.

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13:21In loving memory, Mitzi Ann Nally. On the 12th anniversary of her daughter's murder. We should be celebrating your 33rd birthday instead of mourning the anniversary of your death. Paula Curland is placing a memorial notice in the newspaper. None of us could ever express how much we still love and miss you. Just like she does every year. But this year will be different for us. we will at long last see justice done for your death. And this year will be different. Soon, Paula will finally meet Jonathan Wayne Nobles, the man who murdered her daughter. And two weeks after that, he'll be executed. Why put yourself through this if he's going to die anyway?

14:10Because there are some things that I want him to take with him that only I can give him. She's been trying to do that for more than a decade. But Paula's requests to meet nobles in prison were always denied. It's been 12 years in its time. Until she discovered a little-known state program with a very long name, Victim-Offender Mediation Dialogue. Our purpose... The people who run it shot these videos of the program at work. This is real hard for me. Victims who want to get on with their lives. God knows I felt anger like I've never felt in my life. Meeting the criminals who devastated their lives.

14:51It's real important to me that I know about those last things he said. Why would anyone want to do this? Well, each meeting happens only if both sides agree to it. And then only after months of preparation with a trained mediator. David Erfler with Victim Services. Like psychologist David Durfler. This is not fun and games. I mean, this is real life. It's the opportunity to see people at their very worst and at their very best. Durfler started the program. He's the one who finally convinced Nobles to meet with Paula. Hey, Jonathan. Today, Jonathan Nobles, now 37, might not look or sound much like a killer.

15:37I have to be accountable to myself saying, Jonathan, you're guilty. Okay. Jonathan, you did this. Jonathan, you were wrong. Jonathan, it was a monstrous act. Like many convicted murderers, he says he's found religion in prison. And now, before he dies, he says he wants to do a little good by bringing Paula some peace. That's one of those moral and spiritual obligations. He's been working with David Durfler for months. Go to the heart. Not facing that pain is far worse than anything else. Derfler is helping Nobles figure out what to say when he has to look Paula in the eye. I made a mistake. I can't go back and change the past.

16:21A mistake. I mean, I make a mistake by leaving something at home. I mean, that... A mistake by allowing myself to get so far out of control that murder became possible. If the prisoner isn't remorseful, isn't there a chance that this process could actually do more harm to the victims? Absolutely, but the fact is that one of the requirements for them to participate in this process is to admit guilt and take responsibility. But when the time comes, will Nobles really take responsibility? Will he show remorse or will he try to destroy Paula Curland again? He was manipulative then and I think he's manipulative today.

17:07Carla Connelly, the prosecutor who put him behind bars, has her doubts about his sincerity. Perhaps the man is being sincere, perhaps I'm just being cynical, but I question his motives. And she's not the only one. I don't want to get to know him in any way. I don't see why anybody would. I wouldn't even give him the satisfaction to let him know I think about him. Your family doesn't necessarily think this is a good idea. They think I'm crazy. Thought she was crazy. I told her I thought she was crazy. She told me I was stupid and crazy. Paula's own family has never understood why she ever wanted to meet nobles.

17:41He's not honest. Killers can't be honest. Her sister Brenda. He didn't just kill Mitzi. He killed everybody that we loved. Her son Joe. I've never seen him in person. Why in the hell would I want to see him in person? Can you understand that probably most people wouldn't want to sit in the same room with someone who killed their child? Not everyone feels the need to do what I'm doing, but I think everyone should at least be open to it. By all accounts, this man is a manipulative guy and can use words and say things and try and convince people of things that may or may not be true. Are you prepared for this guy?

18:24He can say anything he wants to say. It's not going to change what I feel. At least that's what she thought until... Nobles has been on Texas death row for the past 12 years. Nobles says something in a local TV interview that changes everything and could jeopardize the meeting. The organ donation, that's about love and respect. It's not about anything for Jonathan. Nobles says he wants to become the first death row inmate in Texas history to donate his organs. I think it's my responsibility to do what I can through today, that which I believe is God's will. But lethal injection leaves organs unusable.

19:01Nobles would need surgery in a hospital before his execution. We don't let death row inmates out. End of story. Prison officials won't let it happen, but Nobles wants to challenge that in court. If there's anything of him walking around on the face of this earth, this will never be closed for me. Paula thinks it's just a stunt to get a stay of execution. Now she's furious. He can sit there and tell me how remorseful he is until hell freezes over. This proves to me that he isn't remorseful. And he's not making us his victims any longer. So here's the problem. Before Nobles and Paula can actually sit down together, the mediator, David Durfler, must give his okay.

19:45If he thinks this meeting might just dissolve into a shouting match, he'll call the whole thing off. and right now he's worried. My baby is gone. And he sits there and talks about wanting to do good. I feel an awesome responsibility at times because ultimately someone has to make the decision of whether or not it's safe enough for these people to get together. The organ donation is not an issue. I think that it's a wonderful, beautiful thing, And just not death row inmates. Okay, but that makes it an issue. Durfler doesn't expect Paula to ever agree with Nobles, just to agree to disagree. So the meeting can happen.

20:29This is non-negotiable. He meets with Nobles again and asks him to write a letter laying out his case for organ donation. Maybe it will convince Paula. I feel very uncomfortable asking for belief or trust from you. but please reserve any judgments as to my motivation until I can stand before you face to face and you were able to test these things for yourself. I mean, it's absolutely unfathomable to me that he could have so much gall and he says, I'm sorry for what I've done and I just want to bring some brightness in this life. Bullshit. Paula is angry, but Dörfler decides she's not too angry.

21:13The past cannot be changed. What do you do now? The meeting will go ahead as planned. The mediation will take place back in the visitation area.

21:28This is it, huh? I don't want to go in there and scream and rant and rave and carry on like an idiot. May the Lord bless you. May the Lord keep you. I mean, who knows how it's really going to go. Are we ready? Once I get started talking, I'm sure that a lot of things that I've suppressed for a lot of years will come out.

21:58It's bottled in there, and I'm ready to let the cork off.

22:13Its official name is Ellis Unit 1. The place is horrible. I mean, even worse than that. But here in Texas, it's better known as Death Row, the end of the line for more than 400 hardened, violent criminals. It isn't going to be easy. It's the last place in the world you'd want to visit. I'm nervous. Which makes what is about to happen this day... But I'll be okay. ...even more amazing. Jonathan is going to see what he took. Thanks. He's going to see Mitzi. Just say a prayer, okay? He's going to see that she was real. All I can do is pray that God just lifts me and takes me in there and holds me while I'm there.

22:52Paula Curlin has waited 12 years to come to death row to confront Jonathan Nobles, her daughter's killer. I'm not going in there for him to say, I'm sorry. I mean, sorry won't cut it. Paula's family didn't want to be here, so she's brought a few close friends for support. David Durfler, the mediator, is along to guide the conversation, if he has to. I imagine it's going to be extremely emotional. Before they begin... You leave it in the hands of the Lord. Yes. And the first word is, don't be afraid. I'm not. Paula gets a blessing from the prison priest. Grant them the grace that they may be reconciled with one another.

23:32And then it's finally time to meet her daughter's killer face to face. I'm willing to listen to what he has to say. But I don't have to believe anything he says.

24:10It's pretty hard, isn't it? It's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.

24:19Dying is easier than this. This is Mitzi. She was a real person, Jonathan. She was real. And she was nothing to you. But she was my whole life. She was my baby. You can't imagine what you've done. You just don't know how much pain you've caused. There's just no way that you could possibly know what pain you've caused, what devastation. When you say that I cannot understand the pain that I brought, no I can't. No, you can't. I didn't even begin to suggest that I could. Well, thank you for that. And that's why I'm here. Do you realize you stabbed my daughter 28 times? No, ma 'am, I didn't remember the number.

25:19It was 28 times.

25:24When you murdered Mitzi, you murdered me. My kids lost their mother. Can you give that back to me? Can you give that back to my kids? No, ma 'am. I don't know what to do with you, Jonathan. I just don't know what to do with you.