Bonne Terre, Missouri (CNN) -- Joseph Paul Franklin is unblinking and empty as he talks about his victims. Do you know how many people you murdered? "I'd rather not mention it," he says flatly. By my count, it's 22 people. "That's approximately it." And those two young boys, just 13, 14 years old. "Yeah, I regret the fact that I shot them now," he replies. Franklin has been away from the civilized world for more than 30 years, serving several life sentences behind bars. We're meeting at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre, Missouri, where he is on death row.
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Joseph Paul Franklin is on death row in Missouri
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Asked if he has killed 22 people, Franklin says that's "approximately it"
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Franklin also shot Hustler publisher Larry Flynt in 1978 in Georgia
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Flynt filed last-minute legal motion with ACLU to try to halt execution
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@placeholder spent 1977 to 1980 trying to accomplish that goal, committing more than a dozen bank robberies in addition to the murders.
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At 26, he changed his name to @placeholder.
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The tattoo artist refused, @placeholder said, worried about law enforcement reprisal.
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Franklin is referring to the December 1975 issue of @placeholder that featured several photos of a black man with a white woman.
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As he returned to the courthouse, two shots struck @placeholder.
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@placeholder believes it's "much more punishment to put somebody in prison for the rest of their lives than it is to snip their life out in a few seconds with a lethal injection."