No Seconds: The Last Meals of Death Row Inmates

From Gacy's bucket of fried chicken to McVeigh's bowl of ice cream, dig in to the last meals of America's death row inmates.

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Talk about your killer appetite.

In his series, No Seconds, photographer Henry Hargreaves cooks up eerie recreations of the final feasts served to America’s death row inmates.

Hargreaves, who mixed prison documents with a pinch of his own imagination to produce each shot, initiated the project after learning of plans in Texas to eliminate elaborate last meals for convicts. According to the photographer, the photo shoot brought the notorious killers, kidnappers, and thieves – including Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy, Jr. – into an odd new light.

“Researching this topic strangely personalized these people for me,” he says. “For a moment, I was able to identify with them through the common denominator of food.”

Dig in to Henry’s shots below, then check out more of his food-focused work on his site.


1.-victor-fegeurweb

Victor Feguer, 28 years old

CRIME: Kidnap and murder
METHOD OF EXECUTION: Lethal injection
LAST MEAL: A single olive with the pit in it

2.-JW-Gacyweb

John Wayne Gacy, 52 years old

CRIME: Rape and 33 counts of murder
METHOD OF EXECUTION: Lethal injection
LAST MEAL: 12 fried shrimp, a bucket of KFC fried chicken, French fries, and 1 lb of strawberries

3.-Tim-McVeighweb

Timothy McVeigh, 33 years old

CRIME: 168 counts of murder
METHOD OF EXECUTION: Lethal injection
LAST MEAL: 2 pints of mint and chocolate chip ice cream

4.-RIcky-Ray-Rectorweb

Ricky Ray Rector, 42 years old

CRIME: 2 counts of murder
METHOD OF EXECUTION: Lethal injection
LAST MEAL: Steak, fried chicken, cherry Kool-Aid, and pecan pie*

*Rector left the pecan pie, telling a guard he was “saving it for later”

5.-Stephen-Andersonweb

Stephen Anderson, 49 years old

CRIME: Burglary, assault, escaping prison, and 7 counts of murder
METHOD OF EXECUTION: Lethal injection
LAST MEAL: A pair grilled cheese sandwiches, a pint of cottage cheese, corn, peach pie, chocolate chip ice cream, and radishes

6.-Ted-Bundyweb

Ted Bundy, 43 years old

CRIME: Rape, necrophilia, prison escape, and 35+ counts of murder
METHOD OF EXECUTION: Electric chair
LAST MEAL: Bundy declined a “special” meal, so he was given the traditional last meal of steak, eggs, hash browns, toast with butter and jelly, milk, and juice

7.-Angel-Nieves-Diazweb

Angel Nieves Diaz, 55 years old

CRIME: Murder, kidnapping, and armed robbery
METHOD OF EXECUTION: Lethal injection
LAST MEAL: Diaz declined a last meal. Authorities served him a regular prison meal, yet he declined this also

8.-Ronnie-Lee-Gardnerweb

Ronnie Lee Gardner, 49 years old

CRIME: Burglary, robbery, and 2 counts of murder
METHOD OF EXECUTION: Firing squad
LAST MEAL: Lobster tail, steak, apple pie, and vanilla ice cream, all consumed while watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy

9.-Allen-Lee-tiny-Davisweb

Allen Lee “Tiny” Davis, 54 years old

CRIME: Robbery and 3 counts of murder
METHOD OF EXECUTION: Electric chair
LAST MEAL: Lobster tail, fried potatoes, ½ lb of fried shrimp, 6 oz of fried clams, ½ loaf of garlic bread, and 32 oz A&W root beer

10.-Teresa-Lewis

Teresa Lewis, 41 years old

CRIME: Murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and robbery
METHOD OF EXECUTION: Lethal injection
LAST MEAL: Fried chicken, peas with butter, apple pie, and Dr Pepper

11.-Sacco-&-Vanzettiweb

Ferdinando Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, 36 and 39 years old

CRIME: 2 counts of murder*
METHOD OF EXECUTION: Electric chair
LAST MEALS: Soup, meat, toast, and tea

*In 1977, Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts issued a statement saying Sacco and Vanzetti had been unfairly tried and convicted. The case remains open

12.-Ronnie-Threadgillweb

Ronnie Threadgill, 40 years old

CRIME: Murder
METHOD OF EXECUTION: Lethal injection
LAST MEAL: Baked chicken, mashed potatoes with country gravy, vegetables, sweet peas, bread, tea, water, and punch*

*Texas abolished the last meal in 2011, so Threadgill was given the same meal as everyone in his unit

Special thanks to Henry Hargreaves for providing the photos in this post.

Photo: Henry Hargreaves