Friday, November 12, 2004

TEXAS LAST MEAL
FREDERICK PATRICK MCWILLIAMS
November 10, 2004

...no dessert in the catacombs of justice...

Last Meal: For his final meal, McWilliams requested six fried chicken breasts with ketchup, french fries, six layer lasagna (ground chicken, beef, cheese, minced tomatoes, noodles and sauteed onions), six egg rolls, shrimp fried rice and soy sauce, six chimichangas with melted cheese and salsa, six slices of turkey with liver and gizzard dressing, dirty rice, cranberry sauce and six lemonades with extra sugar.

The skinny: McWilliams was executed for the fatal shooting of a man during a car theft.

More skinny:
McWilliams and friends Kenneth Adams and Richard Hawkins were driving around Houston looking for a car to steal for use in robberies when they happened upon the victim asleep inside his parked car.

Shaking him from his sleep, McWilliams and his accomplices attempted to put the victim in the trunk of his car. When he resisted, McWilliams shot him once in the head at point-blank range.

The killing occurred in the middle of a crime spree by McWilliams and accomplices in Waller and Harris counties. A week later, Adams was stopped for speeding. A search of the car yielded several firearms, one of which was identified as the gun that killed the man. During questioning by investigating officers, Adams confessed and implicated McWilliams. After being arrested, McWilliams at first tried to put the blame on Adams, then admitted to shooting the victim. Adams received a life sentence.

Dreams dashed: McWilliams, was a former warehouse worker whose hopes for a career as an architect were derailed by armed robbery convictions, was on probation when he was arrested for the beating and shooting of the victim.

Leading up to..."Not a day goes by that I don't wish I could take that whole day back," said McWilliams, whose middle name is Patrick and is known on death row as "Freddie P." Three of his upper front teeth were capped in gold with the initials P, E and E engraved in gothic letters. PEE.

Last words and such: "Well, here we are again folks in the catacombs of justice." He said there was much he wanted to say but "not a whole to say." "There are people that will be mad thinking I try to seek freedom from this, but as long as I see, freedom belongs to me and I'll keep on keeping on. The shackles and chains that just might hold my body can't hold my mind, but will kill me otherwise." Addressing his mother and family members who attended, McWilliams said, ""I leave my love here. I am never going to stop loving you. My love is going to stay here."

Factoids: McWilliams was the....

57th murderer executed in U.S. in 2004
942nd murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
22nd murderer executed in Texas in 2004
335th murderer executed in Texas since 1976