Julie Ziegler-Haynes reports how on death row last meals tend to be high calories and heavy on meat. French fries, chicken, steak and pie are common things that inmates ask for. This reveals an underlying cause for combined lavish menus and speaks volumes about the US justice system and about how inmates spend their last minutes before death.
One thing is for sure the final meals of condemned prisoners are enduring, if not morbid, and also a source of fascination. The average meal request does come at an estimate of 2756 calories, more than what a typical man has for the whole day.
So what is ordered? Let’s take a look at some of the most fascinating last meals.
1. Robert Anthony Buell:
His last meal was eaten on September 24, 2002. The meal only consisted of a single black, unpitted olive. He died by legal injection for killing 11 year old Krista Lee Harrison in 1982. Two other girls were thought to be victims of Buell. Buell, however, was never charged for those two crimes.
2. Victor Feguer:
You would expect an inmate to want a good meal before death. For the second time in arrow, another inmate asked for a single olive with the pit in it. Feguer was accused of kidnapping and murder. He was the last person to be put to death in the state of Iowa on March 15, 1963.
3. Hastings Arthur Wise:
His last meal was on November 4, 2004. He requested a lobster tail, french fries some coleslaw, banana pudding and a glass of milk. Hastings was a convicted mass murderer who was executed in South Carolina for killing 4 of his former coworkers. He previously served time for bank robbery and receipt of stolen goods.
4. Ricky Ray Rector:
This Arkansas man was tried for 2 counts of murder. He died by lethal injection on January 24, 1992. His last meal was a steak, fried chicken, cherry Kool-Aid and pecan pie. He left the pie, telling the guard he was saving it for later.
5. Saddam Hussein:
This tyrant was executed on December 30, 2006 in a televised hanging. His last meal consisted of chicken and rice, with a cup of hot water and honey.
6. Lewis Eugene Gilbert II:
His last meal was on July 1st, 2003. His meal consisted of a half-gallon of vanilla ice cream and a box of whoppers and a box of assorted ice creams.. Hastings was executed by legal injection for the murder of a 37 year old woman. He spent 7 years on death row.
7. Peter J. Miniel:
His last meal was served on October 6, 2004. It consisted of twenty beef tacos, twenty beef enchiladas, two double cheeseburgers, a pizza with jalapenos, friend chicken, spaghetti with salt, a small fruit cake, half of a chocolate cake, half of a vanilla cake, cookies-n-cream ice cream, caramel pecan fudge ice cream, two Cokes, two Pepsies, two Root Beers and two Orange Juices. He was executed by lethal injection for the murder of a 21 year old man. He also spent 16 years on death row.
8. Stacey Lamont Lawton:
Lawton died by lethal injection on November 14, 2000 at 6:22pm in Texas. His last meal request was 1 jar of dill pickles.
9. James Rexford Powell:
His last meal was served on October 1, 2002. It only consisted of one pot of coffee. He was executed the same day for the abduction, rap murder of a 10 year old girl, Falyssa Langley. The girl was working with her parents at a flea market when she was abducted by Powell, an acquaintance of the parents. She was found under a bridge with hands and ankles bound with rope. Witnesses identified Powell’s motor home on the bridge and the DNA found in sperm on Falyssa body.
10. Ronnie Lee Gardner:
Gardner was executed for burglary, robbery and 2 counts of murder. Before he was put do death by a firing squad, he had a prestigious meal and movie combo. He ate a lobster tail, steak, apple pie, Vanila ice cream and watched Lord of the Rings trilogy while eating it. His last meal was given on June 18, 2010, right before he died. The execution garnered controversy as it was the first to be done by firing squad in 14 years. Gardner wanted this method because he was a Mormon.
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