On a day when fellow death row inmate Willie Manning won a last-minute appeal right before his lethal injection, Carroll Joe Parr wasn't so lucky. Parr was executed by the state of Texas for shooting a man to death and robbing him of $2500--money that Parr himself gave the man a few hours earlier when he bought 7 pounds of marijuana from him.
Parr seemed upbeat as he spoke his last words before the execution. "I am in the midst of truth. I am good, I am straight, don't trip" he told witnesses. "To all my partners, tell them I said like Arnold Schwarzenegger, 'I'll be back.' These eyes will close, but they will be opened again."
Since Texas did away with special last meals in 2011, Parr was served the same food as everyone else in his unit. His last meal was chicken patties with gravy, macaroni and cheese, carrots, pinto beans, sliced bread, with punch, tea, and water to drink.
While every death row inmate is reprehensible in their own way, some qualify as the "worst of the worst." Even that category doesn't do justice to Steven Smith, however, who was executed by the state of Ohio this morning. Perhaps "worst of the worst of the worst" would be more accurate.
It seemed totally fitting, then, that a man who committed such a sickening crime would also order a stomach-churning last meal. Smith asked for a pizza with pepperoni, sausage, and ham, fried fish, chocolate ice cream, and Mountain Dew. On their own, each of these items is fine. But mix them all together in a stomach that's already churning from pre-execution stress, and you've got a serious case of nausea just waiting to happen.
Ever since Texas did away with special last meals in 2011---instead serving the condemned man or woman the same food as everyone else in their unit---the last meal process has become something of a guessing game, like spinning the wheel of fortune to see what delicacy from the prison cafeteria's standard menu will come up. Such was the case today when Richard Cobb was executed for his part in an abduction/robbery/rape/murder that took place in 2002.
For those who like to wager, chicken is always a safe bet. From chicken spaghetti to chicken-fried steak, Texas is fond of feeding its prisoners poultry. Cobb's accomplice Beunka Adams, who was executed nearly one year ago to the day, was served chicken patties for his final meal.
Because of his name, I was hoping that Cobb's last meal would be gastronomically ironic; maybe a Cobb salad, or corn on the cob, or at least some nice cobbler for desert. Instead, he received the same chicken patties as his accomplice! Richard Cobb's full last meal was chicken patties, mashed potatoes, carrots, pinto beans, and sliced bread, with punch, tea, and water to drink.
Ronnie Threadgill, executed today by the state of Texas for committing a murder during a carjacking, just couldn't catch a break. First his lawyers failed to argue their way out
of a death sentence during Threadgill's trial. Then the US Supreme Court
denied a last-minute appeal based on the claim that those same lawyers
didn't do a proper job defending their client. And to top it all off,
Threadgill was executed in a state that did away with special last meals
back in 2011. That means for his last meal, Threadgill was served the
same food as everyone else in his unit: baked chicken, mashed potatoes
with country gravy, mixed vegetables, sweet peas, and bread, with punch,
lemonade, tea, and water to drink.
That famous catchphrase uttered by Bart Simpson obviously had an effect on Larry Mann, executed by the state of Florida tonight. As our devoted readers know, Florida offers one of the best death row dining experiences in the country. It's one of the few states that allows nearly any menu item, as long as the ingredients cost less than $40 and can be purchased from a local grocery store. That means many of the Sunshine State's condemned inmates chow down on a big ol' steak just before they meet their maker. But Larry Mann--not to be confused with Larry Man, the least impressive comic book hero of all time--took a different path.
For his last meal, Mann ordered fried shrimp, fish, scallops, stuffed crabs, cole slaw, hot buttered rolls, a pint of pistachio
ice cream, and a Pepsi. The convicted child killer, who joins the ignoble ranks of the Worst of the Worst, had no last words prior to his lethal injection.
To paraphrase the old saying, "Execution means never having to say you're sorry."
If you have any doubts, just look at the last words of Rickey Lynn Lewis, executed tonight by the state of Texas. Lewis--who used every crayon in the crime box during his long career on the wrong side of the law--had already been to prison five times before he was sentenced to death. His crime? All in one night, Lewis killed a man, raped his fiancee, stole his truck, and shot his dog.
Lewis had the chance to apologize to the fiancee just before his execution, but instead he told her "If I hadn't raped you, you wouldn't have lived." After a few more comments, he closed his final statements with the words "I'm getting dizzy."
Since Texas did away with special last meal requests in 2011, Lewis was served the same food as others in his unit. He ate pepper steak, mashed potatoes, cooked carrots, and pinto beans, along with punch, tea, milk, and water to drink. A big thank you as always to the folks at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice information office!
On a day when fellow death row inmate Willie Manning won a last-minute appeal right before his lethal injection, Carroll Joe Parr wasn't so lucky. Parr was executed by the state of Texas for shooting a man to death and robbing him of $2500--money that Parr himself gave the man a few hours earlier when he bought 7 pounds of marijuana from him.
