THE READER'S LAST MEAL KEEP ROLLING IN!

From NYC to LA, Canada to Georgia....many tastes, all good...

Tim A. from Kitchener, Ontario, Canada...Caesar Salad, Full rack of Pork Back Ribs smothered in Texas Bold BBQ Sauce, Baked Potato topped with sour cream, bacon bits and shredded cheddar cheese, Large glass of Iced Tea, Slice of Cheese cake topped with Apple Crisp and drizzled with caramel sauce

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Ed S. from Bradford, Ontario...a 16 oz. Keg New York striploin, medium, Chicago syle. Lobster tails with garlic butter sauce and a scewer of jumbo tiger shrimp, baked potato with onions, bacon and tons of sour cream. For desert Cherry cheescake smothered in caramel sauce. Nothing to fancy just some good old eats!!!

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Anthony D, of Los Angeles...1 oz. chilled Beluga caviar, served with onions, creme fraiche, bellinis, 1 Caesar salad, 12 oz. broiled lobster tail w/melted butter, 1 rack of lamb cooked medium rare, encrusted with herbs, Garlic mashed potatoes, lightly mesquite-grilled, vegetables, vanilla creme brulee with raspberries, 1 bottle of Cristal

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Bill Q. from New F'n York City...Dim Sum from Mandarin Court Chinatown, Hot pastrami sandwich from Katz's (Harry Met Sally restaurant orgasm scene), A steak (medium) creamed spinach & baked potato from Peter Lugers, Kasha knish from Yonna Shimial's on Houston (How-ston not U-ston), Strawberries and cream from the Plaza and all the Rheingold (NYC brew) beer I can drink.

Keep all the fried chicken and Dr. Pepper

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d.g. from georgia...lobster tail served with a side of chilled boiled shrimp and cocktail sauce, greenleaf salad w/ red-wine vinegarette dressing, hot garlic rolls and melted butter, gin martini (bombay sappire) served shaken on the rocks w/ green olives

Ummm, Ummmm. Good....

NORTH CAROLINA LAST MEAL
ROBBIE JAMES LYONS
December 5. 2003

Last Meal: pizza and lasagna, both made to follow Muslim dietary rules, and a Pepsi.

The skinny: Lyons, 31, was executed for a 1993 shooting murder during an attempted robbery at a grocery store.

Legal Machinations: Defense lawyers had said Lyons shouldn't be executed because he had a personality disorder and poor legal representation during his case.

Governor choses "cowardice" and "brutality": The Rev. Jesse Jackson sent Easley a letter urging clemency for Lyons.

"I have the deepest sympathy for the victims of violent crime and their families and loved ones left behind - but the death penalty is not the best way to acknowledge their grief," the letter said.

"By granting clemency in this case you would be setting an example of courage over cowardice, of humanity over brutality."

Easley said Thursday night he found no reason to reduce the sentence of Robbie James Lyons to life in prison, eliminating the prisoner's final chance to avoid the death penalty.

Last words and such: "It is from Allah that I come and it is to Allah that I return," Lyons said in a last statement. "If my death brings another person happiness, then I'm happy for them."


Factoids: The execution was the seventh by the state this year, the most since 1949.

Lyons was the...

65th murderer executed in U.S. in 2003
885th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
7th murderer executed in North Carolina in 2003
30th murderer executed in North Carolina since 1976

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The last meal request of Robbie Lyons, North Carolina, December 5, 2003.

TEXAS LAST MEAL
IVAN MURPHY
December 4, 2003

...Cool Whip, delicious dessert topping or a criminal's worst enemy...or both...

Last Meal: Four pieces of fried chicken (white meat), five pieces of deep fried fish, four deep fried breaded pork chops, extra-large order of french fries, large order of onion rings, ketchup, tarter sauce, one pint Blue Bell Moollennium Crunch ice cream, two quarts of chocolate milk. He probably got vanilla ice cream, a prison spokeswoman said.

The skinny: Murphy, 38, a former mechanic with an extensive criminal record in Oklahoma was executed for fatally beating an 80-year-old woman he'd known since childhood.

The crime: Murphy and an accomplice went to Murphy's old neighborhood where he was known as "Pee Wee," to rob the woman. She invited them in and offered him ice cream because she knew him.

``She died in her own chair in her own living room. It was horrible,'' said former Grayson County District Attorney Robert Jarvis. ``They took either her cane and or a sawed-off shotgun they brought with them and just beat her as she sat in her chair.''

The accomplice was sentenced to life in prison.

Cool Whip, Crime fighter: Strawberry ice cream in a plastic bowl helped convict Murphy of the 1989 slaying.

"We dusted the inside of a Cool Whip bowl and found his fingerprint," said former Grayson County District Attorney Robert Jarvis, recalling evidence in Murphy's capital murder trial.

Besides the fingerprint, jewelry taken from the victim was linked to Murphy, and traces of the woman's blood were found on his clothes.

Last words and such: "This is a celebration of life, not death," Murphy said in a brief final statement while strapped to the death chamber gurney. "Through Jesus Christ we have victory over death." He thanked Pope John Paul II and others for prayers, love and support. ``I want to thank everybody around the world and Father, let your will be done.''

Maybe Not: The victim's son said Murphy's comments were nothing but ``religious babble'' because he never admitted he was guilty. ``Just howling in the trees, just wind in the trees. Without true remorse, it means nothing.''

Factoids: Murphy is the second of five scheduled to die in Texas over the next eight days.

Murphy was the....

64th murderer executed in U.S. in 2003
884th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
24th murderer executed in Texas in 2003
313th murderer executed in Texas since 1976

This summary was compiled from various news accounts.

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The last meal request of Ivan Murphy, Jr., Texas, December 4, 2003

COMING SOON...A NEW WEBSITE FROM DEAD MAN EATING!

In response to the overwhelming press attention and public reaction to the story of the German cannibal and his volunteer, Bohemian Catfish Publications (publishers of DME) is unveiling a new website.

In addition to Dead Man Eating.com, we are proud to introduce...Eating Dead Men.com. An exciting new site dealing with the world of cannibals and their "meals."

We will have news; a personals section (where eaters and eatees can hook up); recipes, with a major emphasis on marinades and spices, for example, old drunks need to soak in covered water overnight to reduce the "pickled" effect and, finally, a word search puzzle.

The initial response has been off-the-charts. We have been in contact with a major cable channel about a cooking show. I am not at liberty to say which one, but the words Food and TV come to mind. And while they didn't say yes, they didn't say no either. We are currently working on our catchphrases like, "That's good eatin'!" or "Put on the Sansabelt Pants, we got a big one!" Feel free to email your catchphrase suggestions.

Also, there had been discussions with ABC about a new reality show called "Joe Cannibal". Where twenty beautiful, succulent women are on an island with a famous chef (actually, a chalupa-maker from Taco Bell) whom they think is looking for a wife. At the end of each show, there is the "garlic" ceremony where the "chef" hands a clove of garlic to that week's remaining contestants. When there is only one woman left, that lucky garlic-laden girl will have the choice of getting a MILLION DOLLARS and being cooked and eaten on "Good Morning America" or getting fifty bucks, not getting cooked and appearing on the "Today" show. Check your local listings for date and time.

Thank you again gentle readers for your support and we will keep you abreast of further developments as they happen.

DME

TEXAS LAST MEAL
RICHARD CHARLES DUNCAN
December 3, 2003

..."it was all about money"...

Last Meals: fried chicken (three chicken breasts--well done), french fries, lettuce, tomato, berry cobbler and a coke.

The skinny: Duncan, 61, was executed for the slayings of his boyfriend's parents at their Houston home more than 16 years ago. Duncan hoped to share the $500,000 life insurance of the couple to save the failing computer business he ran with the couple's son and another man.

"It was all about money," prosecutor Kelly Siegler said.

Unsolved: The brutal murders had gone unsolved for six years when Houston police got a break.

Solved: Robert John Alexander knew who did it, and he could no longer live with his troubled conscience. Alexander gave police the evidence they needed to convict Duncan, his former roommate and lover who also had a relationship with the victim's son, Gary High.

The crime: The trial portrayed Duncan as the manipulative, dictatorial leader of "a family" made up of himself, Alexander and Gary High.

The three had developed a thriving computer business that was doing well until 1987, when the oil business went bust.

Alexander testified that Duncan had talked of killing the Highs so that Gary High would benefit financially.

Police at first thought the couple died accidentally of asphyxiation because they smelled gas and found a gas grill connected to an open jet behind the washing machine.

They found the wife, on her bed and the husband, 72, lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor, where police initially thought he had died from gas fumes after falling and striking his head.

But investigators soon found evidence of something more sinister. the wife had been smothered to death and placed on the bed with a book beside her as if she had fallen asleep reading. Her reading glasses, however, were across the room.

Although Duncan was a prime suspect at the time, police did not have enough evidence to convict him until Alexander contacted them in 1993, saying he wanted to clear his conscience. Alexander, who had become involved with another man, was no longer living with Duncan.

Alexander was granted immunity for his testimony. He agreed to call Duncan at his home in Seattle and record the phone conversations.

Duncan implicated himself in the phone conversations and was arrested Feb. 3, 1994, in Seattle.

Last words and such: Asked if he had a final statement, Duncan said he did not but replied: "Now that I see my family here and everything, all I want to say is I love you all so much. I'm innocent and you know that." As the lethal injection started, Duncan continued to look toward the five friends her referred to as family, saying, "They're so beautiful. Aren't they?"

Factoids: Duncan is the first of five scheduled to die in Texas over the next eight days.

Duncan was the....

63nd murderer executed in U.S. in 2003
883nd murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
23nd murderer executed in Texas in 2003
312th murderer executed in Texas since 1976

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The last meal request of Richard Duncan, Texas, December 3, 2003

DEATH FROM AROUND THE GLOBE
Dateline: Philippines

"What these people need is retribution."

The highlights...

Rody backs execution of death row convicts
By Raquel C. Bagnol

DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has expressed support for the resumption of the execution of death row convicts indefinitely suspended by President Arroyo last year while awaiting for Congress decision on capital punishment.

He said suspension had emboldened criminals, particularly those involved in the illegal drugs trade.

"President Arroyo and I have conflicting ideas regarding this issue because even these drug traffickers know there lives are in danger, they won't stop because of money," Duterte said. He added that the money drug traffickers get from the business "is no joke", which prods them to continue trafficking illegal drugs.

Duterte said that the resumption of death penalty has become necessary amid rising criminality.

"What these people need is retribution. They have ruined the lives of many and they should pay," he said.

....The law can only be repealed if both the House and the Senate arrive at a consensus.

Arroyo, however, said she may allow executions to resume as part of a high-profile campaign against illegal drugs.

"I shall make a decision on the possible re-imposition of the death penalty on the basis of moral principles and due process," she said in a statement published at a national newspaper dated July 6.

Prior to the suspension of the death penalty, Arroyo suspended the August 30 execution of Rolando Pagdayawon of Davao City who was convicted of raping his own daughter because she felt awkward putting him to death on the eve of Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin's 74th birthday.

December's Scheduled Reservations

3 Richard Duncan-Texas
4 Ivan Murphy-Texas
5 Robbie Lyons-North Carolina
9 Billy Vickers-Texas
10 Kevin Zimmerman-Texas
10 Eddie Crawford-Georgia
11 Bobby Lee Hines-Texas
18 James Reid-Virginia

DINING IN MINNESOTA?

The highlights:

Sjodin case spurs Pawlenty to push for death penalty
by Michael Khoo, Minnesota Public Radio


Gov. Tim Pawlenty says he'll push for a Minnesota death penalty next year as part a program to combat sex crimes. Pawlenty's statement comes a day after a recently released sex offender was arrested in Crookston in connection with the disappearance last month of a 22-year-old woman. Minnesota hasn't had a death penalty case in more than 100 years, and opponents say they'll fight to keep it that way.

....The governor says he's long supported a state death penalty, and that the apparent abduction of University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin has only rekindled that conviction.

"When you have somebody who is raping or attempting to rape a woman and trying to kill them or killing them, in my view that's the type of individual that's probably not curable and shouldn't be out on the streets in a free society. So I'd like to see -- I support the death penalty. And I would support the death penalty in a case where we have a sexual assault and a murder or attempted murder," he said.

...Sandra Babcock, a nationally recognized death penalty defense attorney, says she understands the shocked reactions that many have to news of abductions and abuse. But she says Pawlenty's proposal runs counter to a recent national trend away from capital punishment.

"He's swimming against the tide; he's swimming against reason. He wants to take the state back to a time in its history in which, I think the state has rejected the death penalty for many decades. There's absolutely no reason to bring it back," says Babcock.

Babcock says other states have reconsidered their death penalty statutes in light of new evidence on innocent people being wrongly executed. (Ed. Note: I think this is a blatant falsehood. Since the reinstatement of the death penalty, none of the 882 folk executed have been retroactively found to be innocent. Scores of people on death row, but none who have paid the ultimate price.)

REMEMBER THIS?

BIGASS MEDIA ALERT...DME SLATED FOR CNN's ANDERSON COOPER 360°,
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 3, 7-8 EST; 6-7 CST; 4-5 PST; MST...we have no clue...

p.s. unless we are dumped...then nevermind.

Well, the p.s. came into play. The segment has been postponed until later this week or early next week. Check back for breaking developments. Oh, and there is also a little matter of a 3-pack of last meals (2 Texas; 1 North Carolina) over the next three days.

The hangman is rarely postponed.

BIGASS MEDIA ALERT...DME SLATED FOR CNN's ANDERSON COOPER 360°, WEDNESDAY, DEC. 3, 7-8 EST; 6-7 CST; 4-5 PST; MST...we have no clue...

p.s. unless we are dumped...then nevermind.

The response from the AJC article has been fast and furious. What follows are the first of their last meal's and a few other comments.

AJC (and now DME.COM) Reader's Last Meals

Donna M. from Atlanta, GA (Dec. 2)....One large beef bowl from Yoshinoya, One Ultimate Cheeseburger from Jack-in-the-Box, a pieces of my mom’s fried bread, 2 scoops of World Class Chocolate from Baskin Robbins and a large McDonald’s coke (gotta be McDonald’s).

Preston D. of Florida would like a hot virgin topped with white wine cream sauce! (Ed. Note: This is not exactly the way Preston worded his request).

Jon P. of Dallas, Tex...Three enchiladas - chicken, beef & cheese, A bowl of shrimp & sausage jambalaya, Bacon cheeseburger & Vanilla bean Blue Bell ice cream on peach cobbler

Ummmm.....cobbler......

And a few comments...

Will S. writes...

....Finally, I did not easily find the famous story of the Texas man who asked for his meal to be fed to a homeless person. This should be featured on every site like yours....

We comply...

Robert Madden, Texas (natch), was executed on 5/28/1997 for the murder of two men. He asked that final meal be provided to a homeless person

We were unable to find out if that request was fulfilled.

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Michael C. asks...

Is mint chocolate chip ice cream really the preferred ice cream of the condemned?

Good questions, Michael...we don't know. What we do know is that the last execution for 2003 is slated for December 18th in Virginia. The next day, the editors of DME.COM will have their first annual "YEAR IN DEATH REVIEW...2003". This will be a .pdf file listing the last meals and last words of all of 2003's condemned. There will also be a state-by-state breakdown (for 2003 and since 1976), a look at the execution methods (so far in '03--61 lethal injections, 1 electric chair) and a breakdown of the food and beverages by category, i.e. most popular soft drink (looks like Coke and Dr. Pepper are neck-and-neck!). So, gentle readers, make sure you have the Abode Acrobat Reader and circle Dec. 19 on your calendar.

DME.COM MEDIA ALERT

THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
December 1, 2003

Prisoners' last meals satisfy appetite for curious facts

By CARLOS CAMPOS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution


Minutes before his 1995 execution in Oklahoma, convicted murderer Thomas Grasso had an important message to convey.

"I did not get my SpaghettiOs. I got spaghetti," Grasso wrote to reporters in his final statement. "I want the press to know this."

Actually, Grasso got canned spaghetti and meatballs. But that's not what he had requested as his final meal.

Grasso's story is a favorite among those who track the last meals of death row inmates. Public fascination with the custom of granting the condemned a last meal has increased so much that three of the 38 states with capital punishment -- Arizona, California and Texas -- feature prisoners' final meal menus on their Web sites.

The interest in last meals ranges from dark humor to sociological study. Mike Randleman, a California actor who operates a Web site named deadmaneating.com, said he has been accused of exploiting "a sick spectacle." But he shared an e-mail from one of his site's visitors that he thinks helps explain the macabre interest in last meals.

"I believe a man's last meal speaks volumes: Personal history, level of education, cultural and geographic background, economic history -- the list goes on and on. These 'last meal requests' serve as a valuable social document and I am glad you're archiving them. I think your site also manages to humanize the most hated segment of our society. A difficult if not impossible task."

Georgia has few written guidelines for the last meals it serves at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, home of death row. Generally, the food has to be prepared in the prison kitchen or be obtained elsewhere in Jackson, whether at a grocery, fast-food establishment or restaurant.

"It has to be something within reason," said Fred Head, who was warden at the Jackson prison from 1999 until October. "We certainly do want to honor the inmate request, since it's his last meal."

The state does not have a cap on how much it will spend on a last meal, but price usually isn't an issue. Many death row inmates just want fast food or cheap comfort food, such as fried chicken, meatloaf, mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese.

James Willie Brown, executed this month for a 1975 rape and murder in Gwinnett County, ate a footlong chili dog, french fries and a 7 UP from the local Dairy Queen. Cost: $5.

Seafood and ice cream -- two items that are not served in the prison cafeteria -- also are popular fare, Head said.

Of the 10 executions Head supervised, he said, seven of the inmates seemed to enjoy their meals -- usually served at 4 p.m. and eaten in the presence of a prison chaplain and two guards. The others appeared too nervous to eat.

Texas prison officials got so many post-execution telephone calls asking for the contents of the condemned's last meal that they created a Web page dedicated to it.

"We're not trying to entertain anyone by putting this information out," said Michelle Lyons of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. "We're putting it out because it's what the public wants to know."

Ty Treadwell of Roswell and Michelle Vernon of Kennesaw wrote a book on the subject, "Last Suppers: Famous Final Meals From Death Row," in 2001. Vernon, a true-crime buff, and Treadwell, a writer, met while working in a local bookstore. The book highlights some colorful last meals, with equally colorful remarks by the authors.

"I honestly think everybody loves food, and it gives people a way to connect with this segment of the population they normally have nothing in common with," Treadwell said. "They can say, 'Hey, I've never killed anybody with a hammer, but I love fried chicken.' "

Brian Price, a former prison inmate and cook in Texas, is planning to release a book in December about his experience preparing almost 200 last meals. Price, who is on parole after serving 14 years for kidnapping and sexual assault, said he took pride in preparing the meals. He remembers fixing butter beans for a condemned man.

"That was something his mom used to cook when he was a kid," Price said. "It takes them back to a time of good memories. The smells and the tastes take you back to a calm, peaceful time in their life that they want to reflect on."

Stephen Bright, director of the Southern Center for Human Rights, said he thinks interest in last meals makes a sad statement about a grave matter. Bright said one of his first clients, a South Carolina man, asked for a pizza as his last meal. Afterward, the pizza company ran ads boasting that its product was so good it was worth a person's last meal.

"So often, these cases have very compelling issues -- questions of justice, questions of mental capabilities, questions of age and maturity at the time of the crime -- and here we are, dealing with the most awesome and enormous kind of thing that human beings can do, which is to take a human life, and we're focused on the trivial," Bright said.