The Last Death Supper

Steaks, lobsters, ice cream, fruit, fried chicken and shrimp, wine, pastries and sweets - this is not a complete list of what a prisoner can order as a last meal. The tradition of leaving the menu of the last supper to the discretion of the person sentenced to death has existed for a long time, but in 2011 it was canceled in Texas. Thanks to this event, a series of paintings Last meal of death row appeared.

The paintings of the series are made in the style of Dutch masters and depict real meals once ordered by people condemned to death. The still lifes of the contemporary British artist Matt Collishaw make the very concept of “still life” more voluminous, because these paintings not only depict something devoid of life (fr. nature morte - “dead nature”), but outside the picture there is someone whom this life will soon be taken away.

(Total 9 photos)

1 Velma Barfield

Date of execution: November 2, 1984. Menu: Big bag of Cheez Doodles and a can of Coca-Cola.

Velma Barfield was originally convicted of killing her partner, Stuart Taylor, but she later confessed to six other murders, including her husband and mother. During the trial, Barfield's defenders asked that their client be declared insane, but this request was rejected, and the woman was found guilty. The motive for all of Barfield's murders is similar - she appropriated other people's money. All victims died as a result of poisoning.

2. John Wayne Gacy

Date of execution: May 10, 1994. Menu: a dozen deep-fried shrimp, a large portion of original KFC chicken, a pound of fresh strawberries, and fried potatoes.

Gacy is an American serial killer who raped and murdered 33 people between 1972 and 1978. He is also known as the "Killer Clown", as he performed at children's parties in the form of a clown. On December 11, 1978, a 15-year-old teenager who was last seen with Gacy went missing. The killer was detained, but during the preliminary search, the police did not check the basement and attic of the house, and Gacy was released, but on December 21 he was detained again. During a second search in the basement of the house, the bodies of 29 people were found, and Gacy drowned 4 more bodies in the river. On February 6, 1980, the trial began. The jury reached a verdict: find John Wayne Gacy guilty of the premeditated murder of 33 people and sentence him to 21 life sentences and 12 death sentences.

3. Adolf Eichmann

Date of execution: June 1, 1962. Menu: dry red wine.

Otto Adolf Eichmann - German officer and Gestapo officer, was responsible for solving the "Jewish question". During the war years, Eichmann destroyed 4 million Jews. After the war, he fled from court, but in 1960 Mossad agents kidnapped him and sent him to Israel, where he stood trial and was sentenced to death. His last words were: “Long live Germany! Long live Argentina! Long live Austria! My whole life is connected with these three countries, and I will never forget them. I greet my wife, family and friends. I was obliged to follow the rules of war and served my banner. I'm ready".

4. Sammy Felder Jr. (Sammie Felder Junior)

Date of execution: December 15, 1999. Menu: one pound offal, ten pieces of roast chicken (dark meat), ten pieces of bacon, one raw onion, fifteen fried shrimp, a peach and one jug of milk.

Sammy Felder Jr. was convicted in February 1975 of the murder of 42-year-old paraplegic James Hanks. Hanks lived in the center where Felder worked. One night, Felder entered the victim's apartment and tried to steal money, but the owner of the apartment suddenly woke up and began to call for help. In a panic, Felder grabbed a pair of scissors from the nightstand and stabbed the victim. The original conviction was overturned due to improperly written testimony, but in 1986 Felder was reconvicted and sentenced to death.

5. Paul Nuncio (Paul Selso Nuncio)

Date of execution: June 15, 2000. Menu: enchiladas and burritos (traditional Mexican dishes), chocolate ice cream, a whole cantaloupe (a plant of the pumpkin family), cut in half.

Paul Nunzio, a former security guard, was found guilty of the murder of 61-year-old Pauline Crownover Farris in Plainview, Texas. Nunzio broke into Polina's house through the back door, beat, raped and killed a woman, and then stole two televisions, a stereo, a VCR and some jewelry from the house. The perpetrator was arrested a week after the murder, during the sale of one of the TVs. The man admitted that he broke into Polina's house because he knew that he could get money for drugs there. The woman was alone in the house that night when Nunzio and a group of his friends ran onto her porch to get out of the rain. When the rain stopped, everyone left except Nunzio, and the next morning the neighbors found Polina dead on the floor in the living room of her house.

6. Allen Lee Davies

Date of execution: July 8, 1999. Menu: Lobster tail, fried potatoes, half a pound of fried shrimp, six ounces of fried clams, half a loaf of garlic bread, 32 ounces of beer.

On May 11, 1982, Allen killed a pregnant Nancy Weiler and her two daughters. The woman was "beaten beyond recognition." One of her daughters, 9-year-old Christina, was tied up and shot by Davis. The second, 5-year-old Katherine, was shot dead by a man when she tried to escape. Davis was sentenced to death in the electric chair. In the process of execution, complications arose, as a result of which conclusions were drawn about the inhumanity of this type of punishment. Thus, Davis became the last inmate in Florida to be executed in the electric chair. Subsequently, all executions were carried out by lethal injection.

7. Dobie Gillis Williams

Date of execution: January 8, 1999. Menu: 12 sweets and ice cream.

Dobie Gillis Williams was executed by lethal injection in the state of Louisiana for the murder of Sonya Knippers. According to the prosecution, Williams made his way into the home of Carl and Sonia Knippers in the early morning of July 8, 1984 through a bathroom window. When Sonya entered the bathroom, he locked the door and killed the woman. The evidence against Williams is considered controversial. In his last speech, he stated: “I just want to say that I did not cause any offense to anyone. God bless you all. God bless."

8. Louis Jones Jr. (Louis Jones Junior)

Date of execution: March 18, 2003. Menu: fresh fruit.

On February 18, 1995, at 9 pm, Jones entered the San Angelo military base in search of his wife, with whom he had quarreled the day before. Not meeting his wife, Jones went to the laundry where he saw 19-year-old Tracy McBride on the phone with her friend. At gunpoint, he forced the girl to leave the base, brought her to his apartment, raped her, and then killed her. Jones later confessed to killing the girl, and her body was found under a bridge 27 miles from San Angelo.

9 Gary Gilmore

Date of execution: January 17, 1977. Menu: hamburger, hard boiled eggs, baked potatoes, a few cups of coffee and whiskey.

On the evening of July 19, 1976, Gilmour robbed and killed Max Jensen, a gas station worker. The next night, he robbed and killed Benny Bushnell, the manager of a motel in Provo. While disposing of his gun, Gilmour accidentally shot himself in the arm and left a trail of blood from the crime scene to the garage where he had parked his truck before Bushnell's murder. The owner of the garage, seeing the blood, wrote down the number of Gilmour's truck and called the police. Soon Gary Gilmour was arrested. He was the first criminal to be executed since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty, which he had abolished earlier in 1972. Gilmore voluntarily chose death, refused a petition for clemency. His last words were "Let's do it!". The phrase, with a slight change, was borrowed by Nike for an advertising campaign.