Revealed: Weirdest death row meals for predators including three entire buckets of KFC and a single, pitted olive

For some, it’s a chance to hide in a taste of comfort as they face their end. For others, it’s a final chance to show their contempt for society.

It represents the last bit of power the world’s worst killers will ever wield – and invites wild combinations, grand over-indulgence and statements of fury against the law.

Death row meals have long been a grim fascination, giving a window into the last hours of the world’s worst killers.

While not a mandatory requirement for prisoners in countries where the ultimate penalty still exists, the request is often granted in the US – with the final meals written into public records of executions.

And with prisoners given free reign to decide their final dishes, the plates range from pork and ice cream to buckets of KFC and even a single, pitted olive.

Here, MailOnline delves into some of the most bizarre, infuriating and downright disturbing requests put to the judiciary: 

The ‘morbidly obese’ killer’s simple request

Michael Tanzi, branded a ‘fledgling serial killer,’ was the latest killer to be put to death as he faced his fate just after 6pm on Tuesday evening at Florida State Prison in Raiford after his lawyers tried to stave off his morbid end. 

Tanzi brutally kidnapped and murdered Janet Acosta, a Miami Herald employee, 24 years ago. 

But despite his prodigious appetite, his final meal was relatively simple – he indulged in his final meal request of pork chops, bacon, ice cream and a candy bar. 

In his final statement, Tanzi said, ‘I want to apologize to the family,’ before reciting a Bible verse.

The lethal injection was administered to Tanzi, before he heaved for three minutes and then stopped. He was pronounced dead at 6.12pm.

Only last week did Tanzi’s lawyers ask the US Supreme Court to spare him from lethal injection and argued that the method would be incredibly painful for him due to his weight.

They filed a brief on March 24 stating that he was ‘morbidly obese’ and suffers from a nerve condition called sciatica.

His lawyers argued that due to his obesity, the state’s three-drug lethal injection could potentially cause Tanzi ‘serious illness and needless suffering’. 

The brief detailed that the drugs may not be able to fully sedate Tanzi and he would be left ‘paralyzed but aware’ with a ‘sensation of being burned from the inside’.

However, the request was denied just hours before his execution.

Three entire buckets of KFC 

A death row inmate who bludgeoned his ex-girlfriend’s parents to death with a baseball bat in 2001 was executed last month after a final meal of KFC. 

Brad Sigmon, 67, was put to death by firing squad at 6.05pm at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia, South Carolina. 

He was declared dead at 6.08pm by on-site medical staff after three prison guards who volunteered for the grisly task fired at his heart with rifles from 15ft away. 

Sigmon’s last meal was four pieces of fried chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes with gravy, biscuits, cheesecake, and sweet tea.

His lawyer Bo King said he chose to have three buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken as his final meal so he could share it with other inmates on death row.

‘Brad is someone who served as an informal chaplain to the guys on death row. He’s someone who models the kind of service and ministry that’s the central pillar of his faith,’ he added.

Sigmon’s lawyer released a lengthy statement functioning as Sigmon’s last words, which were steeped in Biblical references and called for the end of capital punishment.

The killer was the first person to die by firing squad in the US since 2010 – and just the fourth since the death penalty resumed 49 years ago – after losing a last-minute appeal to spare his life on Friday afternoon.

A pound of dirt 

In April 1990, James Edward Smith was executed by lethal injection for murder. He was 37 years old.

Smith fatally shot insurance executive Larry D. Rohus during a robbery inside a second-floor cashier’s office near the Astrodome on March 7, 1983. 

During the jury selection for his trial in Texas, Smith attempted to escape and ran from the courthouse. He only made it a few blocks before he was captured and returned to custody. 

After being found guilty of murder and sentenced to death, Smith appealed the sentence. However, it was upheld by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 1987.

For his final meal, Smith initially requested a lump of rhaeakunda dirt. It was thought that the specific dirt was used in voodoo rituals, which Smith thought may assist him in reincarnation.

However the Texas Department of Criminal Justice denied Smith’s request – so he settled on a cup of yoghurt.

His initial execution was scheduled for 1988; but this was pushed back when his mother’s lawyers appealed for stay of execution. He was eventually executed in 1990.

‘Justice, equality and world peace’ 

In 2000 Odell Barnes Jr., from Texas, was was sentenced to death by lethal injection for the 1989 murder of Helen Bass.

Bass was 42 years old when she was beaten, stabbed and shot in her own home. There were also signs she may have been raped. 

Barnes Jr. was convicted based on forensic evidence and witness testimony which placed him at the crime scene, including traces of his semen. He also had two patches of Helen’s blood on his clothes.

However, serious questions were raised over his conviction after Barnes Jr was represented by two local attorneys when the Wichita County Public Defender’s office was considered unequipped to handle the case.

Anti-death penalty advocates began to campaign against his conviction and attracted global media attention; even sparking diplomatic protests from the French government. 

Despite the international attention, Barnes was executed on March 1, 2000.  

For his final meal, Barnes requested ‘justice, equality and world peace.’ However, it was denied because it was not actually a meal. 

The largest steak in town 

George W Barrett, from Kentucky, also known as The Diamond King and Bad George, was an American car thief and convicted murderer.

In 1936 he became the first person sentenced to death by hanging in Lockport, Indiana.

Barrett had killed FBI Agent Nelson B. Klein in a shootout on August 14, 1935, before dying, Klein shot back, hitting Barrett in the legs and crippling him. 

For his final meal, Barrett requested ‘the largest steak in town’, which was granted – but when it came to his mealtime, the convict did not eat it. 

After his death, a reporter who had been present for the execution spotted the steak in the jail kitchen and helped himself to it. 

An exotic barbecue selection

Aaron Gunches, 53, who was pronounced dead after a lethal injection in March, offered no resistance as the lethal injection was administered.

Gunches pleaded guilty in 2007 to the November 2002 kidnap and murder of his girlfriend’s ex husband Ted Price.

He shot Price dead in a desert after he threatened to report her to child welfare authorities for doing drugs in front of their children.

According to Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry (ADCRR) Deputy Director John Barcello, when Gunches was asked if he’d like to say any last words, he shook his head and answered ‘no.’

But he enjoyed a particularly exotic final meal – choosing onion rings, a spicy gyro, a barbecue gyro, baklava and a double western bacon cheeseburger with fries.

Sitting up on a gurney, covered with what looked like a white onesie and tucked in with a sheet, Gunches looked straight ahead as the lethal dose was administered. 

The prisoner took a few heavy breaths and let out a snoring-type sound after the lethal injection. 

A single tortilla wrap 

It seems Charles Rumbaugh didn’t have much of an appetite before his execution either.

After being convicted of robbery and murder aged 17 back in 1975, Rumbaugh spent nearly a decade in prison before he was executed via lethal injection.

And it seems all the prisoner could stomach was a single flour tortilla.

Rumbaugh never disclosed why he had made the unsual request, but he’s not the only one to have done so.

A can of Coca-Cola and a packet of crisps 

Murderer Velma Barfield who was convicted of poisoning at least six people including her boyfriend chose a last meal that might not have been filling but would still have hit the spot.

Barfield chose a single can of Coca-Cola and a bag of Cheeze Doodles as her final meal before she was executed in 1984.

Her reasons for this choice are unclear, but the North Carolina prison in which she served her sentence granted her the items.

Barfield received a life sentence after poisoning at least four people, including her boyfriend.

Although she made attempts to appeal her conviction, those appeals ultimately failed.

On her death, Barfield became the the first female prisoner to die by lethal injection in the U.S. and the first woman to be executed since 1962.

Chicken, chips, and peas with cherries, olives, and… celery

Bruno Richard Hauptmann had all the ingredients of a delicious three-course meal, but the infamous prisoner chose to have it all in one go.

Known for allegedly kidnapping the toddler Charles Lindbergh Jr., and seeking a whopping $50,000 in ransom before murdering him, Hauptmann ordered chicken and chips, with cherries, olives, buttered peas, and plain celery.

This random assortment of vegetables is not often paired with his choice of protein or carbohydrates, and there is seemingly no rhyme or reason for these selections. 

Although his main may be a bit odd, Hauptmann kept things much simpler for dessert, as he asked for a single piece of cake.

A single unpitted olive

Given the fact Death Row inmates have the option to enjoy one last meal of their choice, there would have been mass confusion from prison officers when Victor Feguer, 28, put forward his final request.

Feguer was jailed for kidnap and murder and hanged in Iowa in 1963.

For his final meal, he simply requested a single unpitted olive – presented on a huge ceramic plate and accompanied with a knife and fork. 

ALSO a single unpitted olive

In 2002, Buell from Ohio, was executed by lethal injection for the 1982 murder of 11-year-old Krista Lea Harrison.

Eight years after his death, in 2010, Buell was found to have also killed 12-year-old Tina Marie Harmon in 1981 after new DNA evidence linked him to the crime.

In the hours before his execution, Buell listened to classical music on the radio, ate bran flakes and drank a glass of milk.

For his final meal, he requested a single black, unpitted olive. 

It is thought such a request has been made by several prisoners on death row in various US states, in the hope that olive trees would grow from their graves as a sign of peace. 

Dictator’s simple chicken and rice  

Saddam Hussein was an Iraqi dictator who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until he was overthrown in 2003. 

He previously served as the vice president of Iraq from 1968 to 1979 and also served as prime minister from 1979 to 1991 and later from 1994 to 2003. 

In 2006 he was convicted by the Iraqi High Tribunal of crimes against humanity related to the 1982 Dujail massacre of over 140 Shia Muslims and sentenced to death by hanging. 

According to The Times, he refused offers of ‘a last meal of chicken and shawarma rice’, as well as cigarettes. 

Meanwhile other sources state Hussein did in fact eat his last meal of chicken and rice, and had a cup of hot water with honey.

Two pints of ice cream 

Deciding to skip the main entirely and go straight for desert, convicted terrorist Timothy McVeigh gorged himself on two pints of mint chocolate chip ice cream.

McVeigh killed 168 people including 19 children in a planned bombing on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995.

The terrorist refused to give a last message when strapped to his chair in the death chamber.

He is sait to have been ‘calm’ as he awaited his death, spending his last day enjoying his ice cream and watching TV.

‘His attitude and demeanor was very good. He continued to be affable,’ said Robert Nigh, a lawyer for the right-wing terrorist 

 An entire jar of dill pickles

In 2000 convicted murderer Stacey Lawton’s last meal consisted of a traditional cheeseburger and fries.

Fairly normal right? But he also accompanied it with an entire jar of dill pickles. 

Lawton clearly felt that his last meal would be incomplete without a sizeable serving of pickles before he was executed.

The killer was executed by lethal injection for the murder of Dennis Price during a burglary on Christmas Eve 1992. 

To the end, Lawton denied that he was the gunman responsible.

At his execution, while strapped to the chair, Lawton addressed Jennifer Price and told her: ‘I didn’t kill your father. I mean, I know how it look [sic], but I didn’t do it.’

Lobster tail

Ronnie Lee Gardener was executed by a firing squad in Utah after committing two murders.

His final choice was to watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy with his supposed favourite foods. 

The killer was clearly in the mood to push the boat out as he ordered a lobster tail, steak, apple pie and vanilla ice cream. 

He washed it all down with a 7Up.

Gardner had shot a lawyer in the face in a Utah courthouse in 1985 while already facing a murder charge from the year before. No one from his family watched him face the capital punishment – and he chose not to say any final words.

Pizzas for the homeless

Philip Ray Workman was a death row inmate executed in Tennessee on May 9, 2007. 

He was convicted in 1982 for the murder of a police officer Lt. Ronald Oliver following a robbery of a Wendy’s restaurant in Memphis, and sentenced to death by lethal injection.

For his final meal, the 53-year-old, who was addicted to cocaine and homeless at the time, asked if a vegetarian pizza could be donated to any homeless person residing near Riverbend Maximum Security Institution.

Although officials refused his request, word soon spread and locals came together to try and grant his wish, donating hundreds of pizzas around Nashville.

Meanwhile, a woman named Donna Spangler grouped together with her friends to raise over $1,000 (£783) to buy even more pizzas.

‘Philip Workman was trying to do a good deed and no one would help him,’ said Spangler.

In Workman’s name, the president of PETA, Ingrid Newkirk, also heard about the request and ordered 15 vegetarian pizzas to be sent to the Rescue Mission.    

T-bone steak, hash browns and eggs 

Murderer Kenneth Smith, who was the first person to be executed with pure nitrogen, opted for a meal of T-bone steak, hash browns and eggs slathered in A1 steak sauce.

Smith, who was executed last year in Alabama for the 1988 murder of Elizabeth Sennett in Colbert County, reportedly hardly touched his last meal.

He was paid $1,000 to kill an Alabama woman, 45-year-old Elizabeth Sennett, more than 30 years ago and was sentenced to death for the crime.

Smith, who was executed last year in Alabama for the 1988 murder of Elizabeth Sennett in Colbert County, reportedly hardly touched his last meal.

The state had previously attempted to execute Smith in 2022, but the lethal injection was called off at the last minute because authorities couldn’t connect an IV line. 

His death marked the first time a new execution method was used in the US since 1982, when lethal injection was introduced and later became the most common method.

The entire menu

Some inmates might order a final meal that reminds them of a special time or a treasured memory – but Lawrence Russell Brewer chose the entire menu.

White supremacist Brewer was jailed for the murder James Byrd Jr on June 7, 1998 in Texas.

For his last meal, he ordered a triple bacon cheeseburger, a meat lovers’ pizza, three root beers, peanut butter fudge, ice cream, an omelette, fried okra, a pound of barbecued meat, and a double order of chicken fried steak.

After ordering the entire menu, he then shocked the prison guards by refusing to eat any of it, claiming he wasn’t hungry. 

Brewer’s behaviour resulted in a large quantity of wasted food and outraged a Texas senator named John Whitmire, who helped end the longstanding practice of allowing Texas inmates to request last meals.

Due to Brewer’s antics, death row inmates in Texas have been unable to choose their preferred final meal since 2011.

A large thin crust pizza… and antacid medicine 

In 1996 John Albert Taylor became the America’s first convict in 19 years to die before a firing squad.

The 36-year-old was executed at Utah State Prison, the state is alone in offering the condemned a choice of lethal injection or firing squad.

Taylor said he chose the firing squad because it would be costly and embarrassing to the state and because he feared ‘flipping around like a fish out of water’ if given an injection. 

He also hoped the method would more dramatically underscore his claim that his death would be state-sanctioned murder. 

Taylor was convicted of raping 11-year-old Charla Nicole King and strangling her with a telephone cord in 1989. 

Taylor’s own sister, Laura Galli, who testified at his sentencing that he had raped her three times when she was 12, tipped off police that he may have murdered the child. 

For his last meal Taylor ordered a antacid medicine, a cigarette and a large Ambassador pizza with thin crust, onions, mushrooms, hot peppers, sausage, pepperoni, ham and extra cheese.  

 12 fried shrimp, fries, strawberries, KFC and coke

John Wayne Gacy raped, tortured, and murdered 33 young men and boys during a six-year killing spree between 1972 and 1978, and was put to death in 1994.

In an extreme show of gluttony, the killer decided that he would face the death penalty after stuffing his face with fast food.

He had 12 fried shrimp, a side of fries, one pound of strawberries, a bucket of KFC, and a diet coke.

The ‘Killer Clown’ had previously been a KFC restaurant manager. 

Ted Bundy’s standard meal 

Ted Bundy, who was jailed for rape, necrophilia, prison escape and 35 counts of murder, went for steak, much like many other criminals – but not by choice.

The serial killer declined a ‘special’ meal, so was given the traditional last meal – steak (medium rare) eggs (over easy), hash browns, toast with butter, jelly, milk and juice.

Steak and fried chicken 

Ricky Ray Rector was an American murderer who was executed for the 1981 murder of police officer Bob Martin in Conway, Arkansas. 

After killing Martin in a restaurant and fleeing, Rector spent three days on the run before he agreed to turn himself in.

After shooting Bob Martin, Rector attempted to take his own life by shooting himself in the head.

The bullet wound, and subsequent surgery to remove the bullet from Rector’s head resulted in a frontal lobotomy (the loss of a three-inch section of his brain), leaving him mentally impaired.

In 1996 Rector was executed by lethal injection, however Rector seemed incapable of understanding his pending death sentence. 

For his last meal, he left the pecan pie he requested on the side of the tray, telling the guards who came to take him to the execution chamber that he was saving it ‘for later’. 

A tray of healthy fruit – and a bottle of Coca Cola 

Harry Charles Moore was an American convicted murderer who was executed in Oregon for the 1992 killings of Thomas Lauri and Barbara Cunningham. 

Moore said he had killed the couple, his in-laws, because he thought they would move to Las Vegas with his estranged wife and infant daughter, and expose them to a life of prostitution and drugs. 

He was the second person executed by the state of Oregon since 1978 and remains the state’s most recent execution.

The 57-year-old requested two green apples, two red apples, a tray of fresh fruit and two two-litre bottle of Coca Cola.  

A Burger King and a tin of SpaghettiOs

Thomas J Grasso admitted murdering two elderly people; 85-year-old Hilda Johnson in 1990, who was strangled with Christmas tree lights, and Leslie Holtz in 1991, an 81-year-old man from whom he stole his social security cheque. 

His bizarre last meal request was for two dozen steamed mussels, two dozen steamed clams, a Burger King double cheeseburger, six barbecued spare ribs, two large milkshakes, a tin of SpaghettiOs with meatballs, half a pumpkin pie and strawberries and cream.

Unfortunately, the length or complexity of his list seemed to confuse kitchen staff who made one crucial mistake. 

Grasso’s last words were: ‘I did not get my SpaghettiOs, I got spaghetti. I want the press to know this.’ 

A liquid final meal

Mathias Kneißl was a German outlaw, poacher and popular social rebel in the Dachau district, in the Kingdom of Bavaria.

He was charged with two murders, attempted murder, as well as armed robbery and extortion.

The Court sentenced him to receive the death penalty for murder and 15 years imprisonment on the other charges. 

In 1902, he was sentenced to decapitation by guillotine. For his last meal he requested six glasses of beer.