TEXAS LAST MEAL
CARLOS GRANADOS
January 10, 2007

...We hear from Texas...

Last Meal: Granados had a final request of a fried chicken, pizza and soda.

The skinny: Granados, 36, a New York man, was executed for the fatal stabbing of his girlfriend's 3-year-old son.

More skinny: The women's relatives called police after she failed to drop off her son at her grandmother's house and report for work. Officers who went to her apartment found it locked from the inside and summoned firefighters to break the door open.

Inside, authorities found Granados, his wrists slashed, holding a bloody knife and urging them to "Shoot me, just shoot me." The child was dead and his mother near death. He had stabbed the woman 27 times, but she survived to testify against him.

Testimony showed the stabbings were the result of an escalating argument after Granados refused his girlfriend's order to leave. The pair had dated before she married and had the child. When her marriage ended, they began seeing each other again and he moved from New York to Texas to be with her.

At his trial, prosecutors showed Granados, who had no previous prison record, had a history of violence, including assaulting a former girlfriend, biting and bruising a 3-year-old boy and assaulting a relative with a beer bottle.

Last Words and such: In a brief final statement, Granados expressed love to his family and others and addressed his former girlfriend and the mother of 3-year-old victim. "Kathy, you know I never meant to hurt you," he said. "I gave you everything and that's what made me so angry. But I never meant to hurt you. I'm sorry."

The woman stood against the death chamber window as Granados spoke, but he never looked at her.

Factoids: Granados was the...

2nd murderer executed in U.S. in 2007
1059th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
1st murderer executed in Texas in 2007
380th murderer executed in Texas since 1976

Texas put 24 convicted killers to death last year More than a dozen executions are already scheduled for 2007; four are set for this month.

OKLAHOMA LAST MEAL
COREY HAMILTON
January 9, 2007

...the kitchen is open for '07...

Last Meal: Hamilton's last meal was a combination barbecue platter, with chicken, chopped brisket, ribs and hot links, barbecue sauce, a large order baked beans and extra bread.

The skinny: Hamilton, 38, was put to death for the shooting deaths of four employees during a robbery at Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken in Tulsa. The victims were all in their late teens or 20s.

More skinny: The four were herded into the restaurant's walk-in cooler and shot during a robbery that netted slightly more than $2,000. Each died of a close-range gunshot wound to the back of the head.

Hamilton and his brother fled to a Detroit suburb, where they have family.

Three other men were convicted and sentenced to life in prison in the case, but Hamilton received the death penalty in part because one of the co-defendants testified Hamilton was the shooter.

That co-defendant, Donnie Daniels, later recanted a significant portion of his trial testimony but refused to cooperate during a court hearing.

William Hamilton, Corey Hamilton's brother, and Tyrone Johnson also were sentenced to life in prison for their part in the crime.

Procedure Note: Oklahoma's method of lethal injection recently was modified to give the condemned double the amount of the anesthetic sodium thiopental to ensure they are unconscious when the fatal drugs are administered.

"It's to a level where you would feel absolutely no pain," Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Dickson said. "The Department of Corrections has bent over backward to make sure this is not cruel and unusual. We want them to have a peaceful execution."

Last words and such: In his last words, Hamilton offered no apologies but said: "I wish everyone could experience the love of God the way I have. I love everyone and hope to see you on the other side. To the victims' families, I pray that you have peace and all that you are in need of." As the mixture of lethal drugs flowed into his veins, Hamilton said, "Into thy hands I commit my spirit, O Lord." While the fatal drugs flowed through his veins, Hamilton prayed, mouthing several words, including "Jesus.”

He died with his mouth open.

Seventeen members of the victims' family witnessed the execution either from a room overseeing the death chamber or via a closed-circuit television within the prison.

Factoids: Hamilton was the....

1st murderer executed in U.S. in 2007
1058th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
1st murderer executed in Oklahoma in 2007
84th murderer executed in Oklahoma since 1976

Hamilton's was the first of 30 U.S. executions already scheduled for 2007.

No other Oklahoma executions are scheduled, but Oklahoma has 84 men and one woman on death row.

BULLET LAST MEAL

TEXAS LAST MEAL
CARLOS GRANADOS
January 10, 2007

Granados had a final request of a fried chicken, pizza and soda.

Complete skinny to follow...

BULLET LAST MEAL

OKLAHOMA LAST MEAL
COREY DUANE HAMILTON
January 9, 2007

Hamilton had a final request of a combination platter of barbecue with chicken, ribs, chopped brisket and hot wings, a large side dish of baked beans and extra sweet and hot barbecue sauce and extra bread.

Complete skinny to follow...