ALABAMA LAST MEAL
MICHAEL EUGENE THOMPSON
March 13, 2003

Bama on the board...

Last Meal: fried catfish, potato logs, cole slaw, hush puppies, salad and water.

The skinny: Thompson was executed for the murder of store clerk who was abducted, forced into a well and shot to death. The clerk had been working at the convenience store about three weeks when she was robbed and forced into a car trunk. He made her get into a well and then shot into the well until he ran out of ammunition. Then he drove to pick up his girlfriend, obtained more ammunition, and fired seven or eight more shots into the well to make sure the victim was dead.

No vein, no pain Thompson was pronounced dead at 7 p.m., an hour after his execution was scheduled. A prisons spokesman said the procedure didn't begin until 6:37 p.m. because doctors couldn't find a vein where they could insert the IV.

Final words and such: Thompson made no final statement, but mouthed the words "I love you" to a friend,

Factoid: Thompson is the first execution in Alabama this year. He is the second Alabama inmate executed by injection since the state made injection its primary method of execution last year.

VCR ALERT...

TCM's 31 Days of Oscar has it's OSCAR GOES TO DEATH ROW slate....


Sorry for the last notice...
12:30 AM The Front Page (1931) A crusading newspaper editor tricks his retiring star reporter into covering one last case. Pat O'Brien, Adolph Menjou, Edward Everett Horton. D: Lewis Milestone. BW 100m. CC

2:30 AM Dynamite (1929) A socialite marries a condemned man for money, only to learn he's been reprieved. Kay Johnson, Charles Bickford, Conrad Nagel. D: Cecil B. de Mille. BW 126m. CC

13 Thursday

5:00 AM Angels With Dirty Faces (1938) Childhood friends on opposite sides of the law fight over the future of a street gang. James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart. D: Michael Curtiz. BW 97m. CC

7:00 AM I Want To Live! (1958) True story of the small-time lady crook who fought to escape the electric chair. Susan Hayward, Simon Oakland, Theodore Bikel. D: Robert Wise. BW 121m. LBX

TWO TASTY LAST MEALS

Anti-French sentiment hits DME.COM as French fries are now FREEDOM FRIES...and, another snow crab meal. Snow crabs would be well-advised to stay away from DME.COM readers.

jessica z., milwaukee, wisconsin, march 13, 2003

the menu: 1/2 lb. snow crab legs with melted butter, steamed asparagus, 3 slices fried cornmeal mush with real maple syrup, cheesy hash brown casserole like Mom & Grandma make, a cheese course comprised of Roquefort, Stilton with apricots, chevre and fresh mozzarella, 5th Avenue bar, 2 buttermilk biscuits, Edensoy regular soy milk (one container) & blueberry crisp with Breyer's vanilla bean ice cream

&

fwsll, parts unknown, march 13, 2003

the menu: 5 chili dogs, 3 cheeseburgers, freedom fries, onion rings, 3 cokes, chocolate milkshake

anyone have a good cornmeal mush recipe?

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM...

and the Handyman?

The ides of March look musical on death row. First, in Ohio, on the 20th, it is the sooooo vain James Taylor and five days later in the Sooner State, Mr. John Hooker. Can Little Richard be far behind? That commercial with him in a bowling shirt is downright criminal.

SUPREMES STOP THE TEXAS TRICENTENNIAL

From the NYTimes (reg. req.)....

By Minutes, Supreme Court Halts Execution in Texas
By DAVID STOUT

....The Supreme Court blocked the execution today of Delma Banks Jr. a short time before he was to have been put to death in Texas for killing a teenager 23 years ago.

A spokesman said this evening that the court had agreed to stay the execution pending a decision on whether to review the case. Defense lawyers have asserted that jury selection was unfair, that the defendant had ineffective representation at his trial and that prosecutors relied on shaky testimony.

The Supreme Court decision was announced only minutes before Mr. Banks was to have been given a lethal injection at 6 p.m. Central time.

....Mr. Banks, now 44, was convicted of shooting a teenager to death after an all-night drinking session in a park on April 11, 1980, and fleeing in the victim's car. An ex-convict who was an acquaintance of Mr. Banks told investigators that Mr. Banks had admitted killing someone and taking the victim's car.

....Mr. Banks is black, and the victim was white. Statistics have established that that mix of murder defendant and victim is highly likely to produce a death sentence. Mr. Banks's supporters have contended that prosecutors blocked eligible blacks from the jury pool, and that he had ineffective counsel at his trial.

Will Keith Clay be the unlucky 300? Tune in March 20th.

TEXAS LAST MEAL
BOBBY GLEN COOK
March 11, 2003

Cooked...

LAST MEAL: a double meat cheeseburger, jalapenos and trimmings on the side, vanilla malt, french fries, onion rings, ketchup, picante sauce (hot), vanilla ice cream, 2 cokes, 2 dr, peppers, chicken fried steak sandwich with cheese, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes and salad dressing.

The skinny: Cook robbed and killed a fisherman while out on parole for the fourth time.

The victim's body was found inside a sleeping bag in the bed of his pickup truck, which was partly submerged in a river. He had been shot six times in the head. Cook sank the victim's boat and stole his outboard motor and two lanterns along with his wallet containing about $25.

Last Words and such: Cook asked for forgiveness and repeated his assertion that the shooting was in self-defense. "I would like to say to them, please forgive me for what happened; it was self-defense ... and I was never able to get up on the stand to tell them," he said. "I know this is wrong. I am going home to the Lord." his voice choking with emotion.

Priors: Cook had been convicted twice for theft and three times for burglary. He had been free for 10 months when he was arrested.

BAD GUY GONE WORSE: "When people are speaking of the mythical nonviolent offender who can be released with no adverse consequence, one has to at least think there may be a Bobby Cook among those nonviolent offenders," said Gerald Garrett, chairman of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.

A word of warning to the kids: Cook blamed his burglaries on a need for money to support a methamphetamine habit. "At that time, and with those drugs, you didn't care," he said. "I wish this never happened."

Factoids: Cook was the 10th Texas prisoner executed this year and the 299th since the state resumed capital punishment in 1982.

INDIA LAST MEAL
MAHATMA GANDHI
January 30, 1948

from a brief history of....

Last Meal and such: At 4:30p.m., Abha (an honorific title meaning Great Leader) brought in the last meal Gandhi was ever to eat; it consisted of goat's milk, cooked vegetables, oranges, and a concoction of ginger, sour lemons, and strained butter with the juice of aloe.

The rest of the day was downhill from there.....