Latest news with #lastmeal
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Daily Mail
The death row inmate's last meal that sparked such fury prisoners are no longer allowed to choose what they eat before execution
While many American prisoners awaiting the death penalty are able to choose their final meal before execution, inmates in Texas no longer have this privilege thanks to the actions of one man. White supremacist Lawrence Brewer was executed in 2011 after he was convicted of helping to kill a black man by dragging him behind a truck in what some call the most notorious race crime of the post-Civil Rights era. Brewer, 44 - who was convicted of capital murder along with two other men also found guilty of taking part in the kidnapping and slaying of James Byrd Jr. in 1998 - was given a lethal injection of drugs on September 21 and was pronounced dead shortly after. He had no final words, but he did put in a request for his last meal - two chicken steaks, a triple bacon cheeseburger, fried okra, three fajitas, a pizza, a pint of ice cream, and a slab of peanut butter fudge. Guards did their best to bring Brewer his favourite foods before his death. But as his dinner was plated up and presented to him on a table, Brewer refused to eat a single bite. His refusal to eat the multi-course meal angered Texas senator John Whitmire, prompting him to put an end to the tradition, saying 'it's long overdue.' 'Enough is enough', the senator declared, stating that the last meal request is an 'extremely inappropriate' privilege, 'one which the perpetrators did not provide to their victim.' 'Mr Byrd didn't get to choose his last meal. The whole deal is so illogical', he added. Executive director of the Texas criminal justice department, Brad Livingston, agreed with Sen. Whitmire. He said: 'I believe Senator Whitmire's concerns regarding the practice of allowing death row offenders to choose their last meal are valid. 'Effective immediately, no such accommodations will be made. They will receive the same meal served to other offenders on the unit.' Brewer had been on death row for 12 years before his 2011 execution. Speaking to local media before receiving his lethal injection, he said death would be a 'good out' and that he was 'glad it's about to come to an end.' Asked if he had any last words, he replied: 'No. I have no final statement', as a single tear rolled down his cheek. Brewer was executed for his part in the 1998 killing of Byrd in Jasper, East Texas, after Brewer and two friends offered him a lift along a remote country road. Byrd, aged 49 at the time, was beaten unconscious and urinated upon before being bound to the vehicle by his ankles with a heavy logging chain and driven for three miles. Forensic evidence showed that he was alive for much of the ordeal but was killed when the vehicle hit a concrete drainage channel causing his head and arm to be ripped from his body. John William King, 36, was also convicted of capital murder and sent to death row. The third man, Shawn Berry, 36, received a life prison term. After dumping his remains in an African-American cemetery his killers drove off to a barbeque. In an interview from death row, Brewer told KFDM that he participated in the assault on Byrd but had 'nothing to do with the killing as far as dragging him or driving the truck or anything'. Before receiving his lethal injection, Brewer's family was allowed to see him one last time. He was then taken from the Polunsky Unit in Livingston to an isolation cell in Huntsville where the sentence was carried out. Byrd's brutal killing led to the 'Federal October 22, 2009 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr Hate Crimes Prevention Act', commonly known as the 'Matthew Shepard Act'. Then-President Barack Obama signed the bill into law on October 28, 2009. The horrific death put Jasper, a typical East Texas town with a Dairy Queen, Walmart and a handful of fast-food places some 60 miles from the nearest interstate highway, under a national spotlight. 'Everywhere you went, anywhere in the country, once people found out you were from Jasper, Texas, they wanted to ask you about it,' said Mike Lout, mayor and the town radio station owner. 'Everybody first was shocked and appalled and not proud of it. They talked about it so much in the days past it, I think most people wanted to put it out of their minds.' 'It's heartbreaking,' said Billy Rowles, who was sheriff at the time of Mr Byrd's murder. 'A lot of effort and hard work and soul-searching went into trying to live down the stereotype. It's so easy to get back into that mode.' His huge last meal had echoes of that enjoyed by Robert Harris in 1992, who killed two teenage boys. He had a chicken bucket, two large pizzas, a Pepsi six-pack, jelly beans and Camel cigarettes. The subject of last meals before execution has thrown up some interesting results over the last few decades, with infamous killer James Smith being refused a request of dirt in 1990 and instead eating yoghurt. While not a mandatory requirement for prisoners on death row in countries where the death penalty still exists, the request is often granted in the US, with the final meals written into public records of executions. Despite Texas' decision to no longer allow prisoners to choose their last meals, other states continue to give inmates the option to. Some states, however, have a final meal price limit, while others require the meal to be served within a specific time. It is not uncommon for prisoners to order nostalgic meals that offer them a last flavour of happiness before they face the most extreme punishment possible for their heinous crimes. While extensive, Brewer's request was far from the largest or most bizarre death row meal orders. Back in 2011, prisoner Cleve Foster's requested two fried chickens, French fries and a 19-litre bucket of peaches. In 2000, Odell Barnes Jr. from Texas, who was sentenced to death for the 1989 murder of Helen Bass, requested 'justice, equality and world peace.' In 2002, Robert Anthony Buell, from Ohio, was executed by lethal injection for the 1982 murder of 11-year-old Krista Lea Harrison. For his final meal, he requested a single, black, un-pitted olive.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
I'm a hospice chef and most people at the end of their life have the same final meal request
People nearing the end of their lives in hospice often request the same nostalgic food for their last meal, a hospice chef has revealed. Spencer Richards, chef at Sobell House Hospice in Oxfordshire, makes it his mission to ensure patients' last meals are made with love and care. He said: 'My own philosophy is that there can be no greater privilege as a chef than serving someone their final meal. 'Recently a 21-year-old patient didn't connect with anything on the standard menu. He was young and didn't like the usual options, so we talked and he liked street food, so we made that happen.' The chef also recalled another patient, a woman who turned 93 during her stay in hospice, and the dish he made that brought her to tears. 'She hadn't had the most traditional home life, and birthday cakes were never really part of it. When we surprised her with one, she was in tears. She was absolutely over the moon.' It may come as a surprise that birthday cakes are a popular request from patients at the end of life - particularly those in their 80s or 90s. Birthday cakes bring up lots of fond memories for many people, but cakes and desserts also tend to be more palatable for hospice patients who may have been through intense medical treatments. Spencer said: 'They're small things, but especially for people who've been isolated or are feeling lonely, they mean a lot. 'Food at the end of life is as much about adapting as it is about cooking. Patients often lose the ability to swallow or taste buds change due to medicines and treatment such as chemotherapy. 'Many in the hospice become sensitive to salt, so we moderate that. And we find that often people with cancer get a sweet tooth.' A common side effect of chemotherapy for cancer patients is a metallic taste that lingers in the mouth, which may make savoury foods unappealing. Vomiting, difficulty swallowing and painful mouth ulcers are also a common side effect of cancer treatment, causing food to become unappetising. However, sweet foods that are soft can offer patients some comfort as well as provide nourishment. As well as birthday cake, Spencer takes inspiration from classic French desserts like panna cotta, crème brûlée, and crème caramel - all soft, easy-to-eat desserts that are familiar and delicious. Some people can only tolerate jelly or ice cream, and in these instances, Spencer makes sure the dish is presented in a thoughtful manner. 'We don't always know at the time what it means. But we hear back later - families come back months afterward, just to say thank you,' he said. People approaching the end of their lives may find themselves eating and drinking a lot less than before, even if they have always taken pleasure from enjoying food. In hospice care, doctors, nurses and carers are better able to look after the person's needs and ensure they can eat and drink as comfortably and pleasurably as possible. Spencer recalled a family who lost a loved one earlier in the year who returned to the hospice on Christmas day with food for the staff as a gesture of gratitude. Spencer said it's these moments that remind him what his work is really about. 'At this stage in my career, I want to give back,' he added. 'Food is a powerfully emotive medium - it can summon childhood memories and create new lasting ones. That's what we do here.' Sobell House is jointly funded by the NHS and the Sobell House Hospice Charity, which raises £4 million annually.
Daily Mail
08-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Death row inmate suffered 'excruciating' execution after making last meal 'mistake'
A death row inmate suffered an excruciating execution after making a critical last meal mistake. Wesley Ira Purkey, who had been on death row since 2004, was found guilty of raping and murdering 16-year-old Jennifer Long back in 1998. The killer also brutally murdered Mary Bales, 80, after beating her with a claw hammer but he faced justice after neighbours caught him attempting to burn her body. He was arrested before being found guilty of the double murder and placed on death row in January 20024. But when he was executed in July 2020, Purkey, 68, was suffering from dementia. Due to the disease, it is not clear whether he understood what was going to happen to him judging by how he treated his last meal. Purkey had requested pecan pie as his final meal but asked officers to save it for him for later, apparently unaware that there would be no later for him. When it eventually came to his execution, Dr Gail Van Norman, a medical expert, said Purkey likely experienced an 'excruciating' death rather than the intended painless death. The autopsy of Purkey revealed he had suffered a sudden accumulation of fluid in both lungs which would have led to him having difficulty breathing due to the coughing up of frothy, pink sputum, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Van Norman said this would cause a near drowning experience for the inmate that would likely be 'among the most excruciating feelings known to man', and the filling of Purkey's lungs could only have happened while he was still alive. He added: 'It is a virtual medical certainty, that most, if not all, prisoners will experience excruciating suffering, including sensations of drowning and suffocation from [the lethal injection drug] pentobarbital.' Purkey's first victim, Jennifer Long, was last seen at East High School in Kansas City, Missouri, on January 22, 1998, before she disappeared. She had been lured into Purkey's car before he took her back to his home where he reportedly stabbed her to death and dismembered her body with a chainsaw. The killer is then said to have burned her body in a fireplace before placing her remains in a septic pond in Clearwater, Kansas. But to this day, Long's remains are yet to be found. Before his execution took place, Purkey appeared to show remorse for his actions. His final words were reportedly: 'I deeply regret the pain and suffering I caused to Jennifer's family. 'I am deeply sorry. I deeply regret the pain I caused to my daughter, who I love so very much.
