OKLAHOMA LAST MEAL
LEWIS GILBERT
July 1, 2003

Whoppers!

Last Meal: For his last meal, Gilbert dined on a half-gallon of vanilla ice cream, a box of assorted cones and a box of Whoppers.

The Skinny: Gilbert was sentenced to die for killing a security guard. He had also been sentenced to death in Missouri for killing two people, and he had confessed to killing an Ohio woman.

SPREE! Prosecutors in Gilbert's Oklahoma trial said he and Eric Elliot started the spree in Ohio, where they approached Loader's home.

Gilbert and Elliot kicked in the back door and tied up a 79-year old woman. They stole $40 and her car, then put her in the trunk. They took her to the woods, where they shot her in the head three times. Her remains haven't been found and Gilbert was never tried in the case.

Gilbert and Elliot then drove the woman's car to Missouri, where they approached a couple's home. They knocked on the door and asked to use the telephone.

They held the couple at gunpoint, marched them into the cellar and shot each of them in the head three times.

The 37-year old Oklahoma woman had gone fishing after her shift as a security guard at Lake Stanley Draper when Gilbert and Elliot approached her, intending to steal her pickup.

They took her to a nearby wooded area and forced her to sit under a tree as they rummaged through her purse, took her keys and stole $2 or $3.

She told the pair she wouldn't call police if they didn't hurt her, but Gilbert reportedly thought she was lying and grew angry.

Elliot tied the woman's hands and Gilbert shot her three times in the head and once in the back of the neck.

Gilbert and Elliot were arrested in New Mexico, where they confessed to all four murders.

Elliot is serving a sentence of life in prison without parole.

Witnesses: Fourteen friends and family members came to watch Gilbert put to death.

The security guard's husband said before the execution that he is still too upset to visit her grave. The death penalty was the only appropriate punishment for Gilbert, he said.

After it was over, he said he finally had closure. "It brought some relief to both our families. Right now he's up there having to testify to what he did to God. We know where our loved ones are - they're with God."

Final words and such: Gilbert's final statement was mostly inaudible. He thanked God several times but didn't address the victims' families.

"This is weird, but I'm actually looking forward to seeing God. I'm coming home," Gilbert said. "Thank you, God."

Factoids: Gilbert's execution was delayed about an hour while an Oklahoma appeals court and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request for a stay.

Gilbert was the 10th person executed in Oklahoma this year and the 64th since the state resumed executions in 1990.

Lewis and Gilbert were the names of the two lead characters in "Revenge of the Nerds".

This summary was compiled from various news accounts.