The final meal request for James Hudson, Virginia, August 18, 2004.

Mr. Hudson requested French fries with lots of ketchup, tossed salad with French dressing, a cheeseburger with mayonnaise and tomato, Saltine crackers and apple pie.

The editors of deadmaneating.com are currently sunning at the European pool at the Mandalay Bay pool in Las Vegas. A complete summary will be forthcoming on Monday, at the latest. We apologize for the delay....Not a big apology, but an apology nonetheless.

READER'S LAST MEALS...."Dead Like Me" Edition...

OKIE in ILLINOIS...

1, 1 Pound Box of Cheddar Cheese Nips, An Open-Faced Chilli Cheese Frankfurter from Johnnies in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 2, Pepsis, 1 Fanta Root Beer, 1 Fanta Red Cola, 1 Bag of Cheetos, 1, Shimp Cocktail and Scalloped Potatoes.

&

Justin A. from parts unknown...

1. Rack of Ribs.

2. Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail.

3. Cheeseburger.

4. French Fries with Ketchup.

5. Apple Juice.

6. Chocolate Shake.

&

S. Allen from parts unknown...

1. Whole Maine Lobster with Lemon/Butter Sauce.

2. Small Fillet Mignon Medium with Mushroom Sauce.

3. Artichoke with Mayonnaise.

4. Sliced Avocado

5. Soft Yeast Rolls

6. Angel Food Cake w/Chocolate Frosting

7. Six Pack of Pepsi with LOTS of Ice.

&

David S. from New Hampshire



The Menu:



I'll have a healthy helping of Vanessa's homemade lasagna.

(Because Vanessa says there is none better, ANYWHERE.)

I'll have a few cups of Larry D's Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee.

(Because if he drinks the whole pot by himself, the guards will

have to scrape him off the ceiling.) And finally, I'll have a

double layer chocolate cake with a file in it.

&

S. Reed from parts unknown...

Breakfast...

1 sausage on homemade buttermilk biscuit, homefries with ketchup, bowl of cherrios with sugar, fruit salad, apple juice

Snack...warm homemade double chocolate chip cookies, 2%milk

Lunch..

Subway sandwich with turkey, tomatoe, mayo, peper jack cheese on warm parmesean bread, a bonless fried chicken breast with honey mustard, a ceaser salad, pitcher of strawberry/cherry kool aid

Snack...

double fudge brownies, peanut brittle ice cream, peanut butter cookies, strawberry shortcake ice cream

dinner...

1/2 portions of garlic mashed potatoes with gravy, candy yams, greens, creamy mac n cheese, onion rings, fried chicken, lasagna, enchiladadas, curry chicken, rotel a large dominos pepperoni pizza, alil greasy, with dominos bbq wings and cinna sticks, shrimp, philly cheese steak sandwich, whopper

Dessert..

Peach cobbler with extra crust and vanilla ice cream, cheesecake, moist chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream, chocolate shake, kool aid

A QUICK FOLLOW-UP...

Hangman, 84, falls ill after drinking, execution:


For all his experience and braggadocio, 84-year-old hangman Nata Mallick fell sick and had to be carried home on a stretcher Saturday after he hanged a man for raping and murdering a schoolgirl.

Mallick, who carried out his 25th execution when he hanged Dhananjoy Chatterjee at Alipore Jail here, complained of giddiness shortly before the hanging and asked to be given some time to "collect himself".

Mallick's youngest son, Tarak, told reporters his father started feeling unwell and sweated profusely before the hanging.

"He told us he wanted a little rest after which he would see if he could do it. Everyone got worried. But after a while he said he would do it," Tarak said.

Mallick, a third generation hangman who has been in the business for over six decades and has often bragged about his mental strength, felt strong enough to proceed with his preparations. His sons Mahadev and Tarak and his grandson Prabhat assisted him.

The hanging went off smoothly, but after the dead convict had been removed and the body sent for cremation, Mallick was carried in a stretcher into a waiting ambulance.

The ambulance then drove him to his home in a southern Kolkata neighbourhood. Three jail doctors attended Mallick, a heavyset, dark man with strong limbs and shiny silver hair.

"The doctors told us he is not in danger," Tarak said.

Meanwhile, a jail official, refusing to be identified, said Mallick's illness could be because of drinking. The hangman had told reporters days before the execution that the night before a hanging he always consumes liquor. "It steels my nerves," he had said.

The ageing hangman's drinking habits are well known. He had even asked for either liquor or money to buy liquor from reporters who went to his home to interview him.

Jail sources said Mallick could have consumed more liquor than his body could take.

<>

DEATH FROM AROUND THE GLOBE...

DATELINE: India

Convicted killer is hanged in India's first execution since 1995

CALCUTTA, India -- An 84-year-old hangman, brought out of retirement, carried out the first execution in nine years early Saturday in India, where the death penalty is reserved for ''the rarest of rare cases.''

Dhananjay Chatterjee, who was executed before dawn at the Alipora Correctional Home, had been on Death Row since his 1991 conviction for raping and smothering a 14-year-old girl who lived in the apartment building where he worked as a security guard.

Nata Mullick, a third-generation executioner, was assisted by his son and grandson. He also carried out the last hanging in West Bengal state in 1991. The last execution in all of India was in 1995.

No one at the Alipora prison remembered the last time the gallows was used, so the iron lever and footboard had to be tested repeatedly and the rope waxed with soap and ripe bananas, Mullick said before the execution. He carried out several trial hangings with sandbags weighing the same as Chatterjee.

''Criminals like Chatterjee ought to be hanged so that others don't commit such crimes,'' said the hangman, running his fingers through his shiny silver hair. ''I'm only making society safer.''

His fee for the hanging: $435 and a post for his grandson as a maintenance worker at the jail for $56 a month.

NEVADA LAST MEAL
TERRY DENNIS
August 12, 2004

..."I killed a gal in Reno, just to watch her die"...

Last Meal: Two cheeseburgers and a Coke

The skinny: Terry Dennis, 57, was put to death by lethal injection for the 1999 murder of a woman in Reno.

In March 1999, Terry Dennis met a 51 year old Russian immigrant, who assisted him in a drinking bout for several days in a Reno hotel. According to statements given by Dennis later to police, three weeks before, Dennis had fantasies of killing a woman. Then, during their drinking binge, the victim had questioned whether Dennis was able to kill anybody during his service in the Air Force in Vietnam and made fun of him for being unable to perform sexually. Dennis put a belt around her neck and started tightening it, strangling her while they were having sex.

He continued drinking vodka for several more days before calling police and reporting that he had a dead body in his room.

Dennis pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and a three-judge panel ruled that his punishment should be death.

Dennis waived appeals and volunteered for execution.

The last day...Dennis visited with his brother for two hours Thursday morning. Dennis told him that he was sorry he "screwed up his life" - but wasn't remorseful about the murder.

Later, he declined to take a phone call from his second wife. He stayed in the "last night" cell across from the execution chamber, not posting any mail or making any phone calls. Dennis was offered and took a Valium at 4 p.m. and another at 7 p.m.

Last words and such: Dennis offered no final words and died quietly.

Dennis, who had chosen not to pursue appeals, could have stopped the execution at any point, but chose not to do so.

Factoids: Ten of the last 11 executions in Nevada have come when inmates have given up their appeals. Dennis told court officials at one hearing: "Death is preferable to another 15 to 20 years in prison."

There are 83 men and one woman on Nevada's death row, the longest being Edward Wilson who was sentenced in 1979 for the murder of a Reno police undercover agent.

Dennis was the....

38th murderer executed in U.S. in 2004
923rd murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
2nd murderer executed in Nevada in 2004
11th murderer executed in Nevada since 1976