I have run a few posts on death row last words for both the men and the ladies .....
and I thought that I had exhausted the subject, but ......
.... I then recalled that I had in fact done a little research on this some years ago, and that research had featured a different set of characters ..... so without more ado I give my last words post (literally).
Ruth Ellis - the last woman to be hanged in Britain in 1955. She had been sentenced for murder of her lover David Blakely she she had fired six shots at. One from a range of 3 inches .... When entering her death cell the night before she was hung she took off her glasses and said "Well I wont be needing these anymore".
Peter Manuel - an American-Scottish serial killer. Convicted of murdering a total of seven people across southern Scotland between 1956 and his arrest in January 1958 - believed to have killed at least two more. He told the prison guards who came to take him to the gallows to "Turn up the radio and I'll go quietly"
Anthony Miller - hanged in 1960 for the murder of a homosexual man, he and an accomplice had lured to a Glasgow park to rob, his last words to the hangman were "Please Mister." - which later became the title of a play based on the events about that murder in 2010.
Gary Welch - A drug dealer who murdered a man in 1994 in Oklahoma. When he finally faced the lethal injection he told his death row fellows. "So lets get it on, because that that's what we are here for".
Thomas Grasso - A double murderer (including killing 87-year-old woman, using her Christmas tree lights on December 24, 1990, for the princely sum of $8 from her purse, and $4 in loose change), was klled by lethal injection in Oklahoma State Penitentiary in 1995. his last words were "I did not get my Spaghetti-O's, I got spaghetti. I want the press to know this" - a reference to his final meal request not being fulfilled to the letter.
Jeffrey Matthews - Killed his uncle and attempted to kill his aunt in a robbery in Oklahoma, 1994. his last words ended with him saying "I also want to thank all my buddies on death row. I hear you banging. I hate to see you all in this situation” Matthews then told his relatives. “I'm sitting here enjoying my last moments. Enjoy your lives. I think that governor’s phone is broke. He hasn’t called yet.”
Gary Gilmore - Who infamously demanded the implementation of his death sentence, for the two murders he committed in Utah in 1976 while committing robberies. His final words before the firing squad were "Lets Do It" .... his case was the inspiration for The Police song 'Bring On The Night' as well as the single "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" by the punk rock band the Adverts .... a record I still possess!!
Douglas Feldman - Was convicted of killing two truckers in a traffic altercation in 1998 was given a lethal injection in 2013. His final words were "I hereby declare Robert Steven Everett and Nicholas Velasquez, guilty of crimes against me Douglas Alan Feldman. Either by fact or by proxy, I find them guilty. I hereby sentence to death which I carried out in August 1998" .... The two men he named were those he murdered.
Carl Panzram - executed in 1930 for the murder of a prison employee at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary, but then confessed to many more killings and rapes. "In my lifetime I have murdered 21 human beings, I have committed thousands of burglaries, robberies, larcenies, arsons and, last but not least, I have committed sodomy on more than 1,000 male human beings. For all these things I am not in the least bit sorry." As officers tried to place a black hood over his head, he spat in the executioner’s face. When asked for any last words, he responded, "Yes, hurry it up, you *Hoosier bastard! I could kill a dozen men while you're screwing around!". (* a native or inhabitant of the state of Indiana, US).
George Harris - Prolific armed robber Harris was sentenced to death after shooting a man in the face in the living room of a drug house, during an argument about his failure to return two machine guns he owned. Just before he was executed in September 2000 muttered: “Somebody needs to kill my trial attorney.”
Peter Kurten was a German serial killer - guilty of nine counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder - Known as the Vampire of or the Dusseldorf Monster because he would often drink the blood of his victims, and because of the savagery he inflicted on their bodies after killing them. He admitted getting sexual pleasure from killing and seeing blood, and was executed by guillotine in 1931. Last words “After my head is chopped off, will I still be able to hear, at least for a moment, the sound of my own blood gushing from the stump of my neck? That would be the pleasure to end all pleasures.”
William Bonin - nicknamed the "Freeway Killer" ... Convicted of the murders of 14 men and boys between 1979 and 1980, but suspected of raping and killing many more. Executed at San Quentin State Prison by lethal injection 1996. His last words were "I would suggest that when a person has a thought of doing anything serious against the law, that before they did that they should go to a quiet place and think about it seriously."
Westley Allen Dodd - pleaded guilty to the 1989 sexual assault and murder in Washington state of two brothers aged 10 and 11, and the kidnap and murder of a four-year-old boy in Oregon. He was hung in 1993. His last words were: "I was once asked by somebody, I don't remember who, if there was any way sex offenders could be stopped. I said No. I was wrong."
Vincent Gutierrez - Murdered Air Force Captain Jose Renato Cobo in a car-jacking attempt. Executed in Texas in 2007. Last words were "Where's my stunt double when you need one?"
Robert Gleason Junior - Murdered two inmates in separate incidents while in prison for another murder. Voluntarily waived his appeals, and got his wish after choosing the electric chair. Executed in Virginia in 2013. His last words "Well, I hope Percy ain't going to forget to wet the sponge. Put me on the highway to Jackson and call my Irish buddies. Póg mo thóin. God bless." Translated from Irish as "Kiss my arse."
Sarah Good - She was one of the first three women to be accused of witchcraft in the Salem trials in Massachusetts in 1692. Despite protesting her obvious innocence in front of 12 jurors during her trial, she was sentenced to death by the judge, Rev Nicholas Noyes, and hanged in July 1692 (along with four other innocent women also convicted of witchcraft). Her last words were directed at the judge, who sentenced her: “I’m no more a witch than you are a wizard, and if you take away my life God will give you blood to drink.” ..... Twenty-five years later, Noyes died from choking on his own blood.
Marie Antoinette, the French Queen, who was accused of treason, and who was executed on 16 October 1793. Climbing up on her way way to the guillotine she stepped on the executioner Henri Sanson's foot. Her final words before she was beheaded were “Forgive me, sir, I meant not to do it.”
James French - Went to the Electric chair in Oklahoma 1966 for murdering a motorist in 1958, and killing his cell-mate to force his execution- his last words were "Hows this for a headline? 'French Fries'".
George Appel - killed a New York police Officer. He went to the electric chair in 1928, and told the the reporters "Well, gentlemen, you are about to see a baked Appel".
Finally, in something of a reversal, when John Christie the serial killer and necrophile, who killed at least eight people during the 1940s and early 1950s in London, England (the film 10 Rillington Place), had the hangman's hood put on his face, and his hands tied in 1953, when he complained to the hangman, Albert Pierrepoint that he had an itch on his nose .... "It won't bother you long" was the hangman's reply.
NB: All images colourised by me for no special reason
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| Ruth Ellis - Last Woman Hanged In Britain. |
and I thought that I had exhausted the subject, but ......
.... I then recalled that I had in fact done a little research on this some years ago, and that research had featured a different set of characters ..... so without more ado I give my last words post (literally).
Ruth Ellis - the last woman to be hanged in Britain in 1955. She had been sentenced for murder of her lover David Blakely she she had fired six shots at. One from a range of 3 inches .... When entering her death cell the night before she was hung she took off her glasses and said "Well I wont be needing these anymore".
Peter Manuel - an American-Scottish serial killer. Convicted of murdering a total of seven people across southern Scotland between 1956 and his arrest in January 1958 - believed to have killed at least two more. He told the prison guards who came to take him to the gallows to "Turn up the radio and I'll go quietly"
Anthony Miller - hanged in 1960 for the murder of a homosexual man, he and an accomplice had lured to a Glasgow park to rob, his last words to the hangman were "Please Mister." - which later became the title of a play based on the events about that murder in 2010.
Gary Welch - A drug dealer who murdered a man in 1994 in Oklahoma. When he finally faced the lethal injection he told his death row fellows. "So lets get it on, because that that's what we are here for".
Thomas Grasso - A double murderer (including killing 87-year-old woman, using her Christmas tree lights on December 24, 1990, for the princely sum of $8 from her purse, and $4 in loose change), was klled by lethal injection in Oklahoma State Penitentiary in 1995. his last words were "I did not get my Spaghetti-O's, I got spaghetti. I want the press to know this" - a reference to his final meal request not being fulfilled to the letter.
Jeffrey Matthews - Killed his uncle and attempted to kill his aunt in a robbery in Oklahoma, 1994. his last words ended with him saying "I also want to thank all my buddies on death row. I hear you banging. I hate to see you all in this situation” Matthews then told his relatives. “I'm sitting here enjoying my last moments. Enjoy your lives. I think that governor’s phone is broke. He hasn’t called yet.”
Gary Gilmore - Who infamously demanded the implementation of his death sentence, for the two murders he committed in Utah in 1976 while committing robberies. His final words before the firing squad were "Lets Do It" .... his case was the inspiration for The Police song 'Bring On The Night' as well as the single "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" by the punk rock band the Adverts .... a record I still possess!!
Douglas Feldman - Was convicted of killing two truckers in a traffic altercation in 1998 was given a lethal injection in 2013. His final words were "I hereby declare Robert Steven Everett and Nicholas Velasquez, guilty of crimes against me Douglas Alan Feldman. Either by fact or by proxy, I find them guilty. I hereby sentence to death which I carried out in August 1998" .... The two men he named were those he murdered.
 |
| Carl Panzram - A Right Bad Ass .. |
Carl Panzram - executed in 1930 for the murder of a prison employee at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary, but then confessed to many more killings and rapes. "In my lifetime I have murdered 21 human beings, I have committed thousands of burglaries, robberies, larcenies, arsons and, last but not least, I have committed sodomy on more than 1,000 male human beings. For all these things I am not in the least bit sorry." As officers tried to place a black hood over his head, he spat in the executioner’s face. When asked for any last words, he responded, "Yes, hurry it up, you *Hoosier bastard! I could kill a dozen men while you're screwing around!". (* a native or inhabitant of the state of Indiana, US).
George Harris - Prolific armed robber Harris was sentenced to death after shooting a man in the face in the living room of a drug house, during an argument about his failure to return two machine guns he owned. Just before he was executed in September 2000 muttered: “Somebody needs to kill my trial attorney.”
 |
| Peter Kurten - Vampire of Dusseldorf - A Pain In The Neck |
Peter Kurten was a German serial killer - guilty of nine counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder - Known as the Vampire of or the Dusseldorf Monster because he would often drink the blood of his victims, and because of the savagery he inflicted on their bodies after killing them. He admitted getting sexual pleasure from killing and seeing blood, and was executed by guillotine in 1931. Last words “After my head is chopped off, will I still be able to hear, at least for a moment, the sound of my own blood gushing from the stump of my neck? That would be the pleasure to end all pleasures.”
William Bonin - nicknamed the "Freeway Killer" ... Convicted of the murders of 14 men and boys between 1979 and 1980, but suspected of raping and killing many more. Executed at San Quentin State Prison by lethal injection 1996. His last words were "I would suggest that when a person has a thought of doing anything serious against the law, that before they did that they should go to a quiet place and think about it seriously."
Westley Allen Dodd - pleaded guilty to the 1989 sexual assault and murder in Washington state of two brothers aged 10 and 11, and the kidnap and murder of a four-year-old boy in Oregon. He was hung in 1993. His last words were: "I was once asked by somebody, I don't remember who, if there was any way sex offenders could be stopped. I said No. I was wrong."
Vincent Gutierrez - Murdered Air Force Captain Jose Renato Cobo in a car-jacking attempt. Executed in Texas in 2007. Last words were "Where's my stunt double when you need one?"
Robert Gleason Junior - Murdered two inmates in separate incidents while in prison for another murder. Voluntarily waived his appeals, and got his wish after choosing the electric chair. Executed in Virginia in 2013. His last words "Well, I hope Percy ain't going to forget to wet the sponge. Put me on the highway to Jackson and call my Irish buddies. Póg mo thóin. God bless." Translated from Irish as "Kiss my arse."
Sarah Good - She was one of the first three women to be accused of witchcraft in the Salem trials in Massachusetts in 1692. Despite protesting her obvious innocence in front of 12 jurors during her trial, she was sentenced to death by the judge, Rev Nicholas Noyes, and hanged in July 1692 (along with four other innocent women also convicted of witchcraft). Her last words were directed at the judge, who sentenced her: “I’m no more a witch than you are a wizard, and if you take away my life God will give you blood to drink.” ..... Twenty-five years later, Noyes died from choking on his own blood.
Marie Antoinette, the French Queen, who was accused of treason, and who was executed on 16 October 1793. Climbing up on her way way to the guillotine she stepped on the executioner Henri Sanson's foot. Her final words before she was beheaded were “Forgive me, sir, I meant not to do it.”
James French - Went to the Electric chair in Oklahoma 1966 for murdering a motorist in 1958, and killing his cell-mate to force his execution- his last words were "Hows this for a headline? 'French Fries'".
 |
| George Appel - Half Baked Last Laugh .... |
George Appel - killed a New York police Officer. He went to the electric chair in 1928, and told the the reporters "Well, gentlemen, you are about to see a baked Appel".
Finally, in something of a reversal, when John Christie the serial killer and necrophile, who killed at least eight people during the 1940s and early 1950s in London, England (the film 10 Rillington Place), had the hangman's hood put on his face, and his hands tied in 1953, when he complained to the hangman, Albert Pierrepoint that he had an itch on his nose .... "It won't bother you long" was the hangman's reply.
... and .........
A pain in the neck ha ha ha ..
ReplyDeleteThanks. I never normally get comments that mention any witticisms.
DeleteI heard that the condemned's choice of a last meal was an urban myth, in fact they just get whatever's on that day's menu.
ReplyDeleteLast meals seem to be alive and kicking Vroomfondel .... at least according to this linked news report.
DeleteThanks foe the comment Vroomfondel.
That's always a difficult choice - cursing someone when condemned of witch craft - just in case it happens.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of myths surrounding witch trials, but once condemned your were going to die horribly and there would be no reprieve. I guess you were hanged (if lucky) if you cursed, or hanged if you didn't.
DeleteThanks for the comment.
In the US they get a final meal within reason.
ReplyDeleteSo I understand it Joe. Thanks for the comment mate.
Delete