Famous last meals: A look at the final requests of death row inmates

Imagine you knew for a fact that the next meal you ordered was going to be the last meal you ever ate. And you can have whatever you want. Would you go for your favorite comfort food? Or would you try something fancy and expensive? Well, if you want some ideas, you've come to the right place. Because today, we're going to take a look at the most elaborate final meals in death row history. OK? A video about foods of dead men walking coming now. John Wayne Gacy was the spookiest clown ever, who left this earth on May 10, 1994. If you're the kind of person who's afraid of clowns, you may want to fast forward through this part. Because prior to becoming caught, Gacy was known for performing at charity events under the names Pogo the Clown and Patches the Clown. This particular clown is known to have assaulted or ended the lives of young men who he lured into his home. He was finally arrested in December of 1978, and his punishment would be by lethal injection, which he was sentenced to in March of 1980. He would live the rest of his life at Menard Correctional Center, where he is said to have spent a great deal of time painting. Gacy's last meal included 12 fried shrimp, an order of French fries, a pound of strawberries, and a bucket of chicken from Kentucky Fried Chicken, original recipe. It's worth noting that prior to being convicted, Gacy actually managed three KFC restaurants. So whatever else you might say about him, and you could say a lot, he was a man who believed in what he was selling. On May 11, 1982, Allen Lee Davis murdered Nancy Weller and her two daughters, including 10-year-old Christina and 5-year-old Catherine, who he shot as she was trying to escape him. Sentenced to die in the electric chair, Davis spent his last days on death row at Florida State Prison in Stark, Florida, and went on to meet his maker on July 8, 1999. His execution was completely botched, and witnesses say he was still alive after the power was cut. Allen Lee Davis remains to this day the last person whose sentence was carried out by electric chair in the state of Florida. For his last meal, Davis went with a mostly seafood-themed meal that included lobster tail, a half pound of fried shrimp, and six ounces of fried clams. He also took half a loaf of garlic bread as a starter, a plate of French fries as a side dish, and then washed it all down with 32 ounces of A&W root beer. That's probably not the endorsement A&W wants. In October of 2002, Teresa Lewis murdered her husband and stepson in order to cash in on a $250,000 life insurance policy. Lewis farmed the hit out to Matthew Jesse Schellenberger and Rodney Lamont Fuller, whom she had met at a Walmart. Wow, Walmart does offer a lot of services. Lewis let the hitman into her husband's trailer and tried to make the whole thing look like a robbery gone awry. Unfortunately for her, her husband wasn't quite demised when the police arrived and deputies heard him say that his wife knew who did it. On the advice of her attorney, Lewis pleaded guilty, hoping for leniency. But she was sentenced by way of lethal injection anyway. She spent her last days as the only woman on death row at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women in Troy, Virginia. This sentence was finally carried out on September 23, 2010. For her last meal, Davis opted for some American classics, including fried chicken, peas with butter, Dr. Pepper, and for dessert, apple pie. Ted Bundy, possibly the most infamous of criminals, confessed to 30 homicides committed between 1974 and 1978. His total victim count, however, is not known and is often believed to be much higher. Bundy, who's been played in the movies by the likes of Mark Harmon, Zac Efron, and Chad Michael Murray, would pretend to be injured or pose as an authority figure, like a police officer, before knocking his victims unconscious and then taking them to another location. Bundy was captured in 1975, but escaped twice before finally being put away for good in 1978. On February 10, 1980, Bundy was sentenced to the electric chair, which was carried out on January 24, 1989, at Florida State Prison in Bradford County, Florida. Bundy, probably having lost his appetite knowing what was in store for him, passed on the chance to have a special last meal. Instead, he received the standard fare, which included steak cooked medium rare, eggs over easy, hash browns, toast with butter and jelly, milk, and juice. Timothy McVeigh carried out the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. His attack, which destroyed one third of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, took the lives of 168 people and injured almost 700 others. Police caught McVeigh by tracing the vehicle identification number of a rear axle found in the wreckage of the bombing. The part belonged to a Ryder truck that had been rented in Junction City, Kansas. Employees there gave a description to an FBI sketch artist. And that sketch eventually identified McVeigh, who had been arrested on an unrelated gun possession charge in Perry, Oklahoma. McVeigh was convicted on June 2, 1997, and sentenced to meet his maker 11 days later. He would spend the majority of his remaining days on death row in Terre Haute, Indiana. His sentence was carried out on June 11, 2001. For his last meal, McVeigh kept it simple. All he asked for was two pints of mint and chocolate chip ice cream. Sacco and Vanzetti were Italian immigrants and anarchists. In 1921, they were convicted of taking out a guard and a paymaster during an armed robbery in Braintree, Massachusetts on April 15 of the previous year. Despite their numerous appeals being denied, Sacco and Vanzetti became famous worldwide. Legions of people believed them to be innocent, and protests were held all over North America and Europe, as well as in places like Tokyo, Sydney, Buenos Aires, and Dubai. Nonetheless, their sentences were carried out at midnight between August 22 and 23 of 1927. Over the years, evidence mounted in their favor. And in 1977, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis said that they had been unfairly tried and convicted and that any disgrace should be forever removed from their names. Sacco and Vanzetti's last meal is recorded as being the simple menu of soup, meat, toast, and tea. What kind of super meat it was, unfortunately, is lost to history. Ricky Ray Rector took the life of a man at a dance hall after a friend of his had been denied entry. Three days later, Rector agreed to turn himself in. But in a twist absolutely no one saw coming, he also took the life of the police officer who negotiated his surrender by shooting him in the back and then tried to take his own life with a pistol to the head. Despite the fact his botched attempt had effectively lobotomized him, Rector was sentenced to lethal injection. Arkansas governor and future president Bill Clinton even returned home from the presidential campaign trail to oversee the execution, which was carried out on January 24, 1992. When it came time for his last meal, Rector requested steak, fried chicken, cherry Kool-Aid, and pecan pie for dessert. He finished everything except the pie. He told the guard he was saving it for later. On May 26, 1980, Stephen Wayne Anderson robbed the Bloomington, California, house of a retired teacher, Elizabeth Lyman. When Lyman saw Anderson in her home, she screamed, prompting him to shoot her. Anderson, who was known to have admitted to taking the lives of at least eight other people, was convicted of the Lyman murder and sentenced on June 24, 1981. His sentence was carried out by lethal injection on January 29, 2002. When it came time for his last meal, Anderson requested two grilled cheese sandwiches, a pint of cottage cheese, a hominy corn mix, peach pie, chocolate chip ice cream, and radishes. Ronnie Lee Gardner took a man's life during a robbery in Salt Lake City. Then in 1985, while being moved to a court hearing over that homicide, he shot and killed another man during an unsuccessful escape attempt. Gardner was sentenced by way of lethal injection. But due to a now eliminated quirk of Utah state law, he was allowed to opt for a firing squad instead, which he did. The sentence was carried out on June 18, 2010, at Utah State Prison in Draper. For his last meal, Gardner opted for the surf and turf, that is, lobster tail and steak. He finished it off with apple pie and vanilla ice cream, all while watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Well, the trilogy, he's really trying to put off that execution. On December 29, 1979, the life of the manager of a Florida strip club called the Velvet Swing Lounge was taken when three men robbed the club. There were no eyewitnesses to the shooting, But four years later, Angel Nieves-Diaz's girlfriend told police that he was involved. Despite some credibility issues with the witnesses who testified against him, Nieves was convicted and sentenced to receive lethal injection. Nieves would maintain his innocence until his dying day, which incidentally turned out to be December 13, 2006, when his sentence was carried out at Florida State Prison in Rayford. Like everyone else on death row, Nieves was offered his choice of last meal, but he declined it. He was then served the standard meal given to those who had no special requests. But he refused to eat that too. Victor Harry Fager was a drifter. And in the summer of 1960, he drifted into Dubuque, Iowa, where he rented himself a room at an old boarding house. Fager went through the Yellow Pages, phoning doctors and telling them he was with a woman in need of medical care. Dr. Edward Bartles took the bait. And when he showed up, Fager kidnapped him and stole his car. He was captured a few days later in Alabama, but by that point, he had killed Bartles. He was convicted in a federal court and sentenced. Despite a plea from the anti-death penalty governor of Iowa, President John F. Kennedy, who cited the brutality of the crime, refused to grant Fager's request for clemency. Fager spent his last days in the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison. His sentence was carried out on March 15, 1963. He would be the last person put to death in the state of Iowa. Fager's last meal was about as simple as it gets. He had just one single olive with the pit still in it.