Strangest Last Meal Requests On Death Row

Apr 22, 2020

Hi!

Here is your weekly dose of “Everything Strange,” literally a list of everything strange happening around us. So let’s start with

Today's Strange History (April 22, 2020)

Salem Witch Trials: Exactly 328 years ago, in 1692 Edward Bishop was jailed for proposing flogging as a cure for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts.

The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. 30 were found guilty, 19 of whom were executed by hanging. One other man, Giles Corey, was pressed to death for refusing to plead, and at least 5 people died in jail.

Deadly Gas: In 1915, Poison gas was used for the first time by the Germans in World War I with devastating effect.

Dillinger Gang: Today in 1934, US Division of Investigation (later the FBI) under Melvin Purvis botch an operation to capture the Dillinger Gang at Little Bohemia Lodge, Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin; with 2 dead and 4 injured.

The Dillinger Gang was the name given to a crew of American Depression-era bank robbers led by John Dillinger and other famous gangsters of the period, such as Baby Face Nelson. The gang was noted for a successful string of bank robberies, using modern tools and tactics, in the Midwestern United States. During the execution of these crimes, the gang killed 10 men and wounded 7 more. During this period they also performed 3 escapes from jail that resulted in the death of a sheriff and the wounding of 2 guards.

Camp liberated: Exactly 75 years ago, today in 1945 concentration camp at Sachsenhausen was liberated.

The Sachsenhausen concentration camp mainly held political prisoners throughout World War II. Prominent prisoners included Joseph Stalin's oldest son Yakov Dzhugashvili, murderer Herschel Grynszpan, penultimate Prime Minister of France Paul Reynaud, the wife and children of the Crown Prince of Bavaria, and several enemy soldiers and political dissidents. Video about the camp:

Battle of Berlin: In 1945, in the final days upon being informed that a planned counter-attack never happened by the Nazis, Adolf Hitler went into a rage, denounced the German Army and conceded World War II is lost.

The Battle of Berlin designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union was one of the last major offensives of World War II. It is famously known as the "Fall of Berlin."

Fall of Nazi Germany: In 1945, one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and the main architect of the Holocaust Heinrich Himmler (SS chief) secretly met with Count Folke Bernadotte of Sweden, asking him to act as an intermediary for a surrender offer to the Western Allies. The Allies did not take the offer seriously.

Later Adolf Hitler came to know about this and he dismissed Himmler from all his posts in April 1945 and ordered his arrest. Himmler attempted to go into hiding, but was detained and then arrested by British forces once his identity became known. 1 day later while in British custody, he committed suicide.

1st Death: 48 years ago, today in 1972 an 11-year-old boy was killed by a rubber bullet fired by the British Army in Belfast. He was the first-ever to die from a rubber bullet impact.

Hitler Diaries: In 1983, West German news magazine Stern published the first of the Hitler Diaries they had discovered which included 60 volumes of personal diaries purportedly written by Adolf Hitler. However soon after publication, they were revealed by scientific testing to be forged.

Lollipop: 26 years ago, in 1994 the largest lollipop in Denmark, weighing 3,011 pounds was made.

September 11 attacks: In 2005, ZM a French citizen of Moroccan descent pleaded guilty to conspiring with other al-Qaeda members as part of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He was later sentenced to 6 life sentences without the possibility of parole and is now serving his life sentence at the Federal ADX Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. (Note: I do not name cowards who are still alive)

Strange Case of the day: Strangest Last Meal Requests On Death Row

Victor Harry Feguer

Victor Feguer was tried and convicted of murder in federal court for his crimes. He was sentenced to death by hanging. Victor submitted an appeal, which was denied. At that point, only President John F. Kennedy could have commuted the death sentence. Kennedy thought that the crime was so brutal that he denied their request.

After Victor’s death, it would be nearly 40 years until the next federal execution — that of Timothy McVeigh for the Oklahoma City bombing. Victor was put to death at the age of 28. For his last meal, he requested a single olive with the pit in it.

Photographer Henry Hargreaves captured this haunting image, quoting:

“It’s just such a polarizing image. We think about last meals and is it something that’s going to be totally gluttonous, and then he just has a single olive. You know, it’s so simple, beautiful and kind of final. It’s like a full stop at the end of his life.”

Timothy McVeigh

He was the American terrorist behind the Oklahoma City bombing which killed 168 people and 680 others were injured. The bombing was the deadliest act of terrorism within the United States prior to the September 11 attacks, and till date, it remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in the United States. He was put to death in Indiana by lethal injection at the age of 33. He was sentenced to death for 168 counts of murder.

For his last meal, McVeigh requested two pints of mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Angel Nieves Diaz

Angel Diaz was put to death in Florida by lethal injection at the age of 55. He was sentenced to death for murder, kidnapping, and armed robbery, though he maintained his innocence until his death.

Diaz declined a last meal, so he was served the regular prison meal, which he declined to eat as well.

Steven Michael Woods Jr.

Steven Woods was sentenced to death after a jury convicted him of the capital murders of a young drug dealer and his wife. The fairness of Woods’ case and punishment was highly criticized by American philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian & political activist Noam Chomsky and human rights group Amnesty International. Woods’ criminal case was reported locally and internationally. His final motion for a stay was denied on September 2, 2011. 11 days later he was executed by lethal injection.

He had a crazy last meal request:

Ricky Ray Rector

He was put to death in Arkansas by lethal injection at the age of 42. Rector was sentenced to death for 2 counts of murder. For his last meal, Rector requested and received a steak, fried chicken, cherry Kool-Aid, and pecan pie. Rector left the pie on the side of the tray, telling the corrections officers who came to take him to the execution chamber that he was “saving it for later.”

The slice of pecan pie was not disposed of until Rector had been executed.

Ronnie Lee Gardner

He received the death penalty for murder in 1985 and was executed by a firing squad by the state of Utah in 2010. Gardner’s attorney said that his client did not want to attract attention and simply preferred to die this way because, in 1985, Gardner himself famously quoted — “I’d prefer to die of old age, your honor, but if that ain’t possible, I’ll take the firing squad.”

For his last meal, Gardner requested steak, a lobster tail, apple pie, vanilla ice cream, and to eat it all while watching the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

And will end this with a special thanks & credit to Henry Hargreaves for his captures. I also made a full YouTube video about this - 10 Weirdest Last Meal Requests On Death Row including people like John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy:

Something Strange, Something Personal

What I am watching?

Enactment of power struggles, betrayals and plots inside Hitler's inner circle of Nazi leaders who seized control of Germany and designed its disastrous future.

Hitler's Circle of Evil - Found this 10 part series on YouTube:

News, that am going through:

Quote, that I am deeply thinking about:

“If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself.” - Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Propaganda Minister

So will end today’s strangeness here. As always, please give me feedback on Twitter. What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Let me know! Just send a tweet to @StrangeButTrue_

Thanks for reading! Everything I write here is completely for free, just out of my love for researching history, crime, criminals & the paranormal. It would mean a lot to me if you could share this with 1 of your friends; an Instagram or Whatsapp share works too. Bye, talk to you on Saturday.

Everything Strange