Former death row Scot Kenny Richey has launched a plea for donations so that he can return to Scotland.
Richey, 51, said his marriage had ended and he is now homeless, sleeping on the steps of a church in the US.
He said he is “dying”, and desperate to return to Scotland, where he has a girlfriend who lives in Kirkcaldy, Fife.
Richey, who has launched a fundraising page to raise money for his fare, said he wants to live out his life in peace, and remarry.
He said: “I want to come back because it is my home and my country.
“I wouldn’t mind finding some place quiet, maybe out in the countryside somewhere away from everybody, I’d be happy with that.
“I don’t think people would fund this, but I had to ask.
“I know how most people are, especially towards me. Everybody in Scotland has made their bloody mind up about me. They always look at me like I’m a piece of trash or scum. They don’t see the human side of me.
“I’m dying. I want to die in Scotland. Is there something wrong with that?
“They gave me two years to live six years ago for God’s sake. I just want to come home.
“The only reason I came back to America was because my dad was dying and I had to come over here and be with him when he died. It didn’t matter much because he didn’t even know who I was when he was dying. Cancer had destroyed him.”
Richey spent 21 years on death row in Ohio, but was released following a plea bargain with authorities.
He returned to Edinburgh in 2008 but quickly got in trouble with police and returned to the US to get married.
But, speaking to BBC Radio Scotland, he said the marriage was now over and he is living rough.
He said: “Everything has gone downhill. Everything’s went from bad to worse.
“The past week I’ve been sleeping on the steps of a church.
“It just seems that every time something good happens, something bad happens to destroy it.
“I met a wonderful woman, ended up getting married on December 24, 2014.
“I was supposed to get my disabilities as I am supposed to be permanently disabled, and they denied it so we had to appeal. That carried on for over a year and I had to live off my wife. That put an incredible strain on our relationship, and especially on our finances.
“Things got worse and eventually she just left me.
“I’ve got my disability now but it took them long enough. If they’d given it to me earlier my wife and I would still be together. Unfortunately it took too long.”
On his page, Richey writes: “After five heart attacks and a stroke, I find myself $40,000 in debt, no health or medical insurance, I am how homeless and desperate.”
He said he was now “incredibly desperate”, and revealed he was arrested only last weekend for “public intoxication” following a misunderstanding in a bar.
He said police were called and officers smelled alcohol on his breath although he had only consumed one beer. He admitted he could end up behind bars once again as a result.
He said: “The police came and arrested me for public intoxication. You don’t have to be drunk, they just smell beer and that’s it.
“They got me for disrupting a business as well — for closing my eyes in a chair. They gave me a fine of about $480. They could easily put me back in jail right now for it.”
Richey admitted there was a pattern of arrests in his life, as he struggles to “fit in” following more than two decades in prison.
He said: “I just don’t feel like I fit in to society. I’ve never gotten the help that I needed when I got out. Nobody has bothered helping me.
“I needed psychological counselling, I never got that. I started to get that here in Mississippi, but then I went to prison for three years.
“I had a hard time trying to adjust to normal life. I have never paid bills or done anything that normal people do.
“I spent 21 years in prison — more than that if you count the rest of the time. I’m a little more aggressive in some ways — if someone insults me or says something I might find a wee bit offensive I become a wee bit aggressive.
“I think I’ve chilled out a bit more now.”
Richey said he now feels bitter towards the system, however.
He said: “I feel very bitter towards the system, for how it’s treated me and what it’s done to my life.
“I’ve lost everything.
“I lost my youth, I lost my health. Life sucks.”
Ritchie said he had also lost faith in humanity, but still hopes to remarry and live out a quiet life.
He said: “I’ve chilled out a lot. I’m looking for a quiet, peaceful life.
“I don’t care if I’m sleeping in a tent in the country, or a caravan. I wouldn’t care as long as I’m back in Scotland I’ll be happy.
“I’ve got a girlfriend over there anyway. She lives in Kirkcaldy.
“But people will say ‘ah, screw him, leave him where he is. We dinnae want him back here”.
“People like them should shut their bloody mouths and walk a mile in my shoes. Live the kind of life I’ve lived, and the pain and misery I’ve gone through, and then try and judge me.”
He added: “You could say I’ve lost my faith in humanity. Nobody cares anymore — I don’t even care about myself.
“If I had my time over I would have stayed in the marines, did my time and then went back home to Scotland.
“I hope I get back to Scotland. I hope I get remarried and I hope I have a quiet life. We’ll see.”