OHIO LAST MEAL
JAMES FILIAGGI
April 24, 2007

..."This will teach you to fuck with me," then he shot her twice. ...

Last Meal: A final special meal of steak, potato and cheese pirogies, a baked potato, dinner rolls, fresh vegetables, strawberry cheesecake and milk. Pirogies are stuffed dumplings.

According to the prison log at 11:20 a.m.: "Revision to special meal request: If pierogies are approved, Inmate Filiaggi would like chopped onions on top of them."

The request was granted, but after the meal was delivered, Filiaggi asked for extra sour cream. That request also was granted. He also asked for a toothpick but was told there weren't any. Later Monday he asked for a soda, changed his mind and asked for a cup of iced water. Later, he asked for a cup of coffee.

The skinny: Filiaggi was executed for the killing his ex-wife in January 1994.

More skinny: Filiaggi and the victim were married in December 1991. There were two daughters born during the marriage.

She filed for divorce nine months later. The divorce was granted in February 1993.

A few months later, the woman became engaged. Shortly thereafter, she and her finace became repeated victims of telephone harassment and vandalism. Filiaggi was charged with felony assault upon the woman's fiance when their two daughters were exchanged for visitation. He was later charged with intimidation and vandalism to their home.

Two days later, Filiaggi purchased a 9mm Luger pistol, and took a $1,000 cash advance on his Visa card. He left six to seven hundred dollars with his girlfriend, Tracey.

At 10:45 p.m., the Lorain Police Department dispatcher received a call from the woman stating that Filiaggi was at her back door and was breaking into her house. Filiaggi broke down the door and entered the house. Still carrying the telephone, the woman fled out the front door and into a neighbors house. Filiaggi broke down his door as well, found the woman in a closet, told her "This will teach you to fuck with me," then shot her twice.

Wounded, the victim ran to a bedroom, where she was shot twice more, killing her. Filiaggi fled to the woman's stepfather's house and attempted to shoot him as well.

Filiaggi pleaded innocent by reason of insanity, claiming a poor diet was what caused him to react violently; the so-called "Twinkie defense."

Not so fast, my friend: Filiaggi had stopped appealing his death sentence but then changed his mind and went to court five days ago was executed.

His appeal was rejected by several lower courts but his execution was then put on hold pending a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court issued a one-sentence denial on Monday without comment, about 20 minutes after the execution was supposed to have taken place. He died about an hour later.

Leading up to: Described as "calm and compliant," the condemned man did not sleep Monday night. He spent his final hours meeting with family and friends at his cell-side or talking with them on the phone. Filiaggi received the highest number of death house visitors — 24 — since Ohio resumed putting inmates to death in 1999. He had twice as many visitors as the inmate with the next highest tally.

The prison log also revealed a little known fact about post-execution procedures in Ohio: Filiaggi was the seventh inmate whose body was anointed in oil and prayed over in a short religious ceremony by the prison system's chaplain. The anointing was not disclosed previously because the chaplin considered the act a private matter. It was on Filiaggi's log because the execution team member recording the execution decided to note everything.

Last words and such: "I know I flipped some worlds upside down. For me, it's fine, but the state needs to learn this ain't the answer. This is no deterrent to crime. Some are falsely convicted, railroaded. The state needs to wake up. Maybe they will follow the Europeans. God is the only one who knows."

Factoids: Filiaggi was the...

14th murderer executed in U.S. in 2007
1071st murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
1st murderer executed in Ohio in 2007
25th murderer executed in Ohio since 1976

Filiaggi was the first person executed in Ohio during Gov. Ted Strickland's term. The 24 previous executions, going back to 1999 when Ohio started enforcing the death penalty again, occurred when Bob Taft was governor.

Ohio is the nation's second-busiest death penalty state, since 1999.