TEXAS LAST MEAL
MICHAEL GRIFFITH
June 6, 2006

...Griffith was the first ex-officer to be executed since the state resumed carrying out executions in 1982...

Last Meal: For his last meal, Griffith, 56, requested breakfast food including fried eggs.

Note: We know that "breakfast food" is a little vague, but that is the menu the prison released to us.

The skinny: Griffith, a former deputy sheriff, was executed for the murder of a woman during the robbery of a wedding chapel and flower shop.

More skinny: Griffith was a regular customer of the Always and Forever Flower Shop in Houston, operated by the 44-year old victim and her mother. Griffith entered and after placing an order, pulled a pistol and robbed the woman of $400 and credit cards. He then forced her into the back room, made her perform sex acts, then stabbed her repeatedly with a butcher knife.

Griffith used one of the stolen credit cards only minutes after the murder. He used other over the next three weeks to entertain his girlfriends.

Griffith was arrested a month after the murder in a hotel room. Upon his arrest, he was in possession of the credit cards and the murder weapon.DNA testing showed that the knife had on it the blood of both Griffith and the victim.

Griffith also was convicted of two violent robberies involving women — one at a savings and loan office and another at a bridal shop — the same month as the slaying. Both women survived their attacks and testified against him.

Griffith was a 10-year veteran officer of the Harris County Sheriff's Department before his termination in 1993 due to domestic abuse. According to Prison officials, Griffith was the first ex-officer to be executed since the state resumed carrying out executions in 1982.

Leading up to: Griffith never admitted to the crime, but in the days leading up to the execution he asked his lawyers to stop appealing his sentence.

Last words and such: Griffith made no final statement from the death chamber gurney, replying to the warden with a "No, sir" when asked if he had anything to say. But as the lethal drugs began flowing, he whispered, "Please take my spirit to the Lord."

Factoids: Griffith was the...

22nd murderer executed in U.S. in 2007
1079th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
15th murderer executed in Texas in 2007
394th murderer executed in Texas since 1976