After landing the role of an Army captain in charge of the prison in the movie The Boys of Abu Ghraib, actor Scott Patterson (The Gilmore Girls) reached Albuquerque around midnight, arriving on a late night flight. A producer on the new film greeted him at the airport. Instead of heading for his hotel, Patterson accepted the producer’s offer to take him for a late night visit to the site selected for filming the interior prison scenes -- the abandoned, former maximum-security New Mexico State Penitentiary, located just outside of Santa Fe. Also at his producer's suggestion, Patterson decided to visit Death Row. He intended to sit in the chair inside the gas chamber itself for “the experience.” At this point in his story, I’m thinking to myself, Is this guy absolutely insane? As the two men made their way underground three levels toward the gas chamber, Patterson noted a spot on the floor where the concrete had been marred by what appeared to be hacking marks. Further along the way, he saw a blackened spot on the floor that he didn’t understand, uneasily noting it took the vague shape of a human form. When they reached the viewing room for the gas chamber, the two men found a lit small candle standing upright in a chair.  By Patterson's account, the producer looked terrified and claimed to have no knowledge of how the candle got there. He expressed an interest in leaving at that point, but Patterson said, “My training is such that I don’t back away from such experiences.” So he insisted on continuing on until he actually sat in the gas chamber chair. … [Read more...]