Although it varies from state to state, the tradition of giving a death row inmate their last meal goes back over a century. In short, it’s one last tastes of life on earth. One last gesture of humanity. Some murderers have used their final meal as a last ditch act of rebellion. Others have taken full advantage of the opportunity without batting an eye. The below last suppers were given to infamous killers who lived their last days on death row, and like their crimes, their meals left a lasting impression on society.
According to legal analysts and scholars via the BBC, the practice of giving death row inmates a final meal is less for them and more so for those who have sentenced a fellow human to die.
It’s not uncommon for inmates to not have an appetite hours before their execution, yet we as fellow Americans want to know that we gave them the chance to have a few final moments of comfort.
Not all prison systems indulge their death row inmates with last meals.
In Texas, after white supremacist Lawrence Brewer racked up an order consisting of two steaks, a triple-patty cheeseburger, three fajitas, a pound of barbecue, and a pint of ice cream, and then declined to eat any of it, the state decided the tradition had gotten out of hand and therefore ended the final meal practice in 2011. Other states have price and location caps on their inmates’ dinners.
Check out what some of the most ruthless death row inmates in American history chose to consume before ending their sentence.
The meals are unsettling, to say the least.
1. Timothy McVeigh
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In what was the deadliest attack on Americans by an American at the time (before 9/11 happened), McVeigh planned and carried out the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing of a federal building, which killed 168 and injured over 600.
Described as plain evil, unapologetic, and expressionless, McVeigh, the 33-year-old U.S. Army veteran, was sentenced to death.
The night before he was to be executed by lethal injection, he requested two pints of mint chocolate chip ice cream for his final meal.
2. John Wayne Gacy
In 1980, just before his execution for assaulting and murdering 33 young men in Cook County, Illinois, John Wayne Gacy, a.k.a. “the Killer Clown,” consumed a dozen fried shrimp, a bucket of KFC original recipe fried chicken, French fries, and a pound of strawberries.
His ex-wife’s family owned three Kentucky Fried Chicken chains, which he managed for some years before being convicted as a serial killer.
He was also on death row for 14 years before his execution by lethal injection.
3. Aileen Wuornos
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Having killed seven men between 1989 and 1990, Aileen Wuornos was executed for her crimes in 2002.
She was finally convicted for her crimes after years of robberies, assaults, DUIs, and public aggression.
She refused a traditional last meal, which could have cost up to $20 at the Florida State Prison, and instead drank a cup of black coffee hours before her execution by lethal injection. But her last words are of coming back “June 6” like in the movie Independence Day.
4. Adolf Eichmann
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Eichmann was the Nazi SS-Obersturmbannführer who was one of the major brains behind the Holocaust.
And like most of the people featured on this list, he left without remorse, saying in his last words “Long live Germany. Long live Argentina. Long live Austria.”
He then requested a single bottle of Israeli red wine (ironically), Carmel, before his 1962 execution by hanging, surrounded by four journalists, a Canadian clergyman, and a small group of officials. He reportedly drank half of the bottle.
5. Ted Bundy
Before being executed in 1989 for the killings of over 30 young female victims, Ted Bundy refused a last supper. The Florida prison in which he was housed therefore gave him a run-of-the-mill death row final meal: medium-rare steak, over easy eggs, toast with jelly, hash browns, milk, juice, and coffee.
Bundy didn’t eat any of it.
As he was awaiting his execution on the electric chair, he contemplated suicide, since he didn’t want there to be any witnesses of his demise.
6. Dovie Dean
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Called “the woman who couldn’t cry” by the press, Dovie Dean was sentenced to death in 1954 after she was found guilty of putting rat poison in her husband’s milk.
She tried to blame a son from her previous marriage, confessed that her current husband wasn’t a good husband and couldn’t perform his duties. He wanted her to be a housewife and she simply wanted a home.
For her last meal, she asked for roast chicken, coconut pie, angel food cake, and black coffee.
7. Bruno Hauptmann
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Hauptmann was involved in “The Crime of the Century,” the abduction and murder of the newborn of aviation star, Charles Lindbergh. Hours before his 1939 execution by electrocution in a New Jersey prison, German-born carpenter Bruno Hauptmann’s final meal on death row consisted of chicken, French fries, buttered peas, celery, olives, cherries, and a slice of cake.
Right after the meal and just before his execution, he told his spiritual advisor in German that he was completely innocent of these crimes.
8. John Allen Muhammad
Along with his teenaged accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, John Allen Muhammad, given the moniker “the Beltway Sniper,” was responsible for 10 murders in the Washington D.C. area.
In Virginia, there’s a law that allows inmates to choose either lethal injection or electrocution as the means of execution.
Since he declined to choose, he was subject to lethal injection. Before his 2009 execution date, Muhammad requested chicken with red sauce and cake as his last meal. He also declined to make a final statement.
9. Velma Barfield
Barfield was the first woman to be executed after the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. She was also the first woman to be executed by lethal injection.
She was found guilty of one murder, but ultimately confessed to killing six people before her 1984 execution — at the time, she was the only female on death row in North Carolina.
Barfield asked for Cheeze Doodles and a Coca-Cola for her last meal. Her final statement was that of thanks of gratefulness for people that supported her (she also apologized to any families she hurt).
10. Karla Faye Tucker
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Coined the “Pickax Killer,” Karla Faye Tucker was sentenced to death after killing two people by way of pickax during a botched robbery.
Her religious conversion and ability to charm the media while on death row had some arguing for the commutation of her sentence.
But in 1998, Tucker ended up being the second woman after Barfield to be executed in the United States after the death penalty’s revival. She requested a banana, a peach, and a garden salad with ranch dressing hours before her execution.
11. Danny Rolling
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Known as the “Gainsville Ripper,” Danny Rolling was given a buttered lobster tail, butterfly shrimp, baked potato, strawberry cheesecake, and sweet tea for his extravagant final meal.
He was executed in 2006 after brutally murdering five University of Florida students within a span of three days in 1990.
He offered no final statement, but sang a gospel song before his death. Before he was executed by lethal injection at the Florida State Prison, he gave his spiritual adviser a handwritten apology note.
12. Ruth Snyder
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Perhaps best known for the infamous brutal image of her 1928 execution on the front page of the Daily News, Snyder was found guilty and sentenced to death for killing her husband with her new lover.
She was the first woman to be on the electric chair since 1899, and the execution as remembered on film was captured live, showing the electric shocks through her body.
Her final meal was chicken parmesan with pasta Alfredo, ice cream, two milkshakes, and a 12-pack of grape soda.
13. Victor Feguer
Feguer, a drifter, phoned physicians in alphabetical order and landed on Dr. Edward Bartels, who he tricked into thinking a woman needed his medical help. Feguer kidnapped the doctor and killed him.
His final meal is famously documented in photographer Henry Hargreaves’ death row inmates’ last meal photo series — Feguer wanted a single olive with the pit still inside.
He told the guards that he hoped an olive tree would grow from his grave to signify peace, before being hanged for his crime.
14. Odell Barnes, Jr.
Convicted for the murder and assault of Helen Bass, Barnes, Jr. requested an odd final meal: “Justice, equality, and world peace.” These words were literally typed on a piece of paper. Barnes’ last statement was full of thanks for all the support he received and that “all things come to an end.”
He broke into his victim’s home, robbed, beaten, stabbed, shot, and likely raped Helen Bass.
He was executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas for first degree murder.
15. Gerald Lee Mitchell
When he was just 17, Mitchell robbed and shot two teens who were trying to buy marijuana from him. One of them survived, but the other died in the altercation. Mitchell wasn’t executed on death row until he was 33, where he was administered lethal injection.
He did express remorse to the family of the boy he murdered, as well as gave apologies to them and his own family.
On death row in Texas, his final meal request was one bag of assorted hard Jolly Rancher candies.
16. John R. Thompson
Thompson was convicted of the murder of 70-year-old Mary Kneupper at a warehouse storage where she was employed. The murder was a result of his failed attempt at robbing the storage place. He was on death row in a Texas prison for 10 years before being executed by lethal injection.
Prior to this crime, Thompson had an extensive criminal record and history of drug and alcohol abuse (at the time of the murder, his family thought he quit doing drugs).
His final meal request was a simple glass of freshly-squeezed orange juice.
While this information may be fascinating, we must remember that these people committed horrendous crimes. We continue to honor their victims above all else.
