What Did Some of America's Most Notorious Criminals Have as a 'Last Meal'?

Last meals before executions are a tradition almost as old as civilization itself. Ancient Greeks believed feeding the condemned would prevent their ghosts from returning to haunt the living. In one German tradition, executioners would throw a feast for themselves and the to-be-executed to share.

The option to customize a last meal for death row inmates in the United States follows that tradition, but it is not mandated under any law. Many states have various restrictions for what a last meal can be. Texas prisons ban custom meals entirely.

Still, many infamous criminals have been able to choose their last meals, offering insight into the lonely hours before their deaths. No matter how enigmatic a killer might be, their taste buds speak volumes, both about their crimes and how the justice system has led them to the table.

In 1995, several thousand pounds of explosive destroyed a federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people, the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in American history. Though several people were involved, only Timothy McVeigh, a Gulf War veteran and white supremacist, was condemned to death.

McVeigh masterminded the bombing in response to the federal government’s siege and use of tear gas on a Waco, Texas, compound that led to the deaths of dozens of people exactly two years prior. The day before his execution, he boasted that the bombing was “a legit tactic” and that he would “improvise, adapt and overcome” in the afterlife.

But McVeigh’s last meal suggested a desire for comfort in his final hours. He ate two pints of mint chocolate ice cream (one of the most popular ice cream flavors). Prison logs reported he was restless that night.

Before his last arrest, John Wayne Gacy’s Chicago neighbors believed him to be an upstanding citizen who hosted many parties and took part in local politics. But in December 1978, after years of police surveillance, Gacy admitted to sexually assaulting and killing young men and boys for several years. From the Des Plaines River to crawl spaces in Gacy’s house, police would ultimately recover 33 bodies of Gacy’s victims.

For his crimes, Gacy was executed in 1994 by lethal injection at an Illinois prison.

Gacy’s life of crime began where his “perfect” life ended: Waterloo, Iowa. After graduating from KFC Chicken School, Gacy relocated to Waterloo with his first wife to manage three KFC locations his father-in-law owned. He was an active member of his community and even gained the approval of his abusive father. He was first arrested when he was 26 years old for sexually assaulting a teenage boy.

His last meal might have been an attempt to return to that short era of happiness. He ordered 12 fried shrimp, French fries, a pound of strawberries and a bucket of original recipe KFC chicken.

For much of Aileen Wuornos’ life, sex work was both a way to get by and get in trouble. At school, she traded sexual favors for cigarettes and food. After becoming pregnant at 15, her family threw her out of the house. To survive, she turned to prostitution again, petty theft and, eventually, armed robbery. She would later claim she was raped several times during this period.

As a prostitute in Florida, Wuornos killed seven men, claiming that they had raped or attempted to rape her. She was sentenced in 1992 and executed by lethal injection in 2002.

Wuornos reportedly hated death row and the dehumanization she experienced in prison, and she accused multiple people of having it out for her. She declined a last meal and received only a cup of coffee, apparently too nervous to eat.

A former Presbyterian minister and anti-abortionist, Paul Jennings Hill used a shotgun to kill Dr. John Bayard Britton and his bodyguard as they drove into a Pensacola, Fla., abortion clinic in 1994. He was convicted that same year and executed in 2003 by lethal injection. His last meal: steak, baked potato, broccoli, salad, orange sherbet and sweetened iced tea.

Hill was born and raised in Florida, where oranges and iced tea are cultural staples for the Sunshine State. Hill died believing he had served his community, with his last words being, “May God help you to protect the unborn as you would want to be protected.”

Probably the United States’ most notorious serial killer for his manipulative charm, Ted Bundy carried out a murder spree targeting dozens of women between 1974 and 1978. His crimes and subsequent trials have been a timeless source of macabre interest. He was sentenced to death three times, eventually carried out by electric chair in Florida State Prison in 1989.

Bundy resented his sentence and was combative in the courtroom. The refusal to accept his fate extended into his very last moments. Bundy was offered steak, eggs, toast with butter, jelly, milk, coffee, juice and hash browns, but ultimately declined a last meal entirely.

Nearly all executions involve criminals who didn’t have enough money to afford their own attorney. Many of them never had a higher education, and some had no formal education at all.

As the death row population has declined, so has the penalty’s popularity. Half of all Americans are in favor of imposing the death penalty for people convicted of murder, compared to 80 percent of Americans in favor just before the Oklahoma City bombing. After a mass clemency in 2024, only three people are left on federal death row. Thousands more are on death row in the 27 states that still allow capital punishment.

It was the last meal of Victor Feguer that helped end the death penalty in Iowa. Feguer was convicted of the kidnapping and killing of a doctor, and he was executed in 1963. For his last meal, Feguer ordered a single olive with the pit still inside. He apparently told guards that he wanted an olive tree, a symbol of peace, to grow from his grave.

“I sure hope I’m the last one to go,” he said before he was hanged. “Will you make sure the press gets that?”