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6 Last Meal Requests From Some of the Most Notorious Criminals Ever

Hopefully none of you will ever have to put in a last meal request. If you do, you done messed up somewhere along the line. Having said that, we got to thinking what ours would be. In that vein, we looked at the last meal requests from some of the most notorious criminal in history.

Last Meal For John Wayne Gacy

Last Meal Requests, John Wayne Gacy

Age: 52 years; State: Illinois; Crimes: rape, 33 counts of murder; Type: lethal injection

Requests:

  • 12 fried shrimp
  • Bucket of Original Recipe KFC*
  • French fries
  • 1 lb. of strawberries

* Prior to being convicted, Gacy had managed three KFC restaurants.

Last Meal For Timothy McVeigh

Age: 33 years; State: Indiana; Crimes: 168 counts of murder; Type: lethal injection

Requests:

  • Two pints of mint and chocolate chip ice cream

Last Meal For Ricky Ray Rector

Age: 42 years; State: Arkansas; Crimes: two counts of murder; Type: lethal injection

Requests:

  • Steak
  • Fried chicken
  • Cherry Kool-Aid
  • Pecan pie*

* He left the pecan pie, telling a guard he was “saving it for later.”

Last Meal For Ted Bundy

Age: 43 years; State: Florida; Crimes: rape, necrophilia, prison escape and 35+ counts of murder; Type: electric chair

Requests: declined a “special” meal; was given the traditional last meal.

  • Steak (medium rare)
  • Eggs (over easy)
  • Hash browns
  • Toast with butter and jelly
  • Milk
  • Juice

Last Meal For Ronnie Lee Gardner

Age: 49 years; State: Utah; Crimes: burglary, robbery, two counts of murder; Type: firing squad

Requests:

  • Lobster tail
  • Steak
  • Apple pie
  • Vanilla ice cream
  • To eat while watching the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy

Last Meal For Teresa Lewis

Age: 41 years; State: Virginia; Crimes: murder, conspiracy and robbery; Type: lethal injection

Requests:

  • Fried chicken
  • Peas with butter
  • Apple pie
  • Dr. Pepper

Website: HenryHargreaves.com

IG: @henry_hargreaves_photo

Henry: In my photography I have always been fascinated by the mix of the mundane with the extraordinary. While I was reading about efforts to stop the last meal tradition in Texas, my interest was sparked. In the most unnatural moment there is (state sponsored death), what kinds of requests for food have been made?

In New Zealand (where I’m from) and, in fact, nearly anywhere else in the developed world, the death penalty is just not even in the conversation. It is a remnant of an earlier era. This little bit of civility — “Hey, we are going to kill you, but what would you like to eat?” — just jumped off the page.I felt that it could be a really interesting idea to try to represent visually. Researching this topic strangely personalized these people for me and, for a moment, I was able to identify with them through the common denominator of food.

Check out our podcast Skillset Live and get in on the conversation with us on IG and Facebook!

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