11 Weirdest Death Row Last Meals Inmates Have Requested

Published March 13, 2023

Inmates on death row typically receive one last meal a few days before execution. The meal’s regulations vary from country to country and state to state. Both alcohol and tobacco are often banned in the United States. In Florida, the total cost of the death row last meals is set at $40, while in Oklahoma, the limit is $15. Although some states, like Texas, do not permit special last meals, in Louisiana, the prison director eats with the convict.

Weirdest Death Row Last Meals

The prisoners often ask for steak, pizza, burger, fried chicken, cake, and ice cream. But from time to time, a death row inmate will have an unusual request for their last meal. Here are 11 of the weirdest death row last meals requests you’ve likely never heard of.

1. James Edward Smith: Dirt

On March 7, 1983, while robbing the Union Life Insurance Company, James Edward Smith killed Larry Don Rohus. Smith received a death sentence for capital murder to be executed by lethal injection.

Smith requested rhaeakunda, a dirt linked with voodoo rituals, for his last meal. He intended to mark his body using the dirt so that his soul would not remain as a ghost on Earth. Unfortunately, Smith’s request was denied, and he was served yogurt as his last meal on June 25, 1990.

2. Gerald Lee Mitchell: Jolly Ranchers

Gerald Lee Mitchell was an inmate on death row. He was found guilty as a minor of murdering two men, one over a necklace and one during a drug deal.

Mitchell just asked for a pack of mixed Jolly Ranchers as he waited for his last moments on death row. He received his execution by lethal injection in Texas in 2001.

3. Aileen Carol Wuornos: Coffee

Aileen Carol Wuornos was a serial killer and prostitute in Florida who murdered 7 men before she was caught. Wuornos claimed she only acted in self-defense after being assaulted by the men; nevertheless, she was sentenced to death.

After a decade on death row, Wuornos was put to death by injection on October 9, 2002. Her last meal requests was a cup of black coffee, and in her last statement, she said: “Yes, I would just like to say I’m sailing with the rock, and I’ll be back, like Independence Day, with Jesus. June 6, like the movie. Big mother ship and all, I’ll be back, I’ll be back.”

4. Velma Barfield: Cheese Puffs and Soda

Velma Barfield was the first woman to be put to death by lethal injection after the death penalty was brought back. She was called the “Death Row Granny” because almost everyone in her life mysteriously died from poisoning.

Velma, an elderly devoted Christian who murdered 6 people, asked only Cheez Doodles and Coca-Cola for her last meal.

5. Victor Harry Feuger: A Single Olive

In 1963, Victor Harry Feguer, age 28, was given the death penalty for kidnapping and murder. For his last meal, he asked for an olive with the pit intact.

After Feguer’s execution, the olive pit was discovered in his suit pocket, which contributed to the belief that he wanted to be buried with it so that an olive tree, and what it represents, would grow from his grave.

6. Gary Carl Simmons, Jr.: 29,000-Calorie Meal

Gary Carl Simmons, Jr., a death row inmate who wanted more than he could chew, was guilty of the murder and dismemberment of Jeffrey Wolfe and the rape of his girlfriend in 1996.

Simmons asked for a 29,000-calorie meal for his last meal, which included parmesan cheese, chips, dressing, soda, milkshake, fries, pizza, and ice cream. But, as expected, he didn’t finish his meal.