• Twitter
  • Facebook
News-Sentinel.com Your Town. Your Voice.
Opening Arguments

Bon appetit, bon voyage

I admit to being morbidly fascinated by the last-meal requests of condemned prisoners, so I searched all the stories about Matthew Eric Wrinkles' execution at the state prison in Michigan City early this morning until I found out what he ordered:

Wrinkles received his "last meal" Tuesday -- prime rib with a loaded baked potato, pork chops with steak fries, rolls and two salads with ranch dressing.

Prison spokeswoman Pam James said inmates usually receive their special meals about two days before their execution because they typically aren't as hungry on the day they are to die.

Yeah, I guess I wouldn't be that hungry for my special meal on my special day, either. Apparently, I'm not the only one interested in the eating habits of killers. There's a whole book about the subject called "Last Suppers: Famous Final Meals from Death Row." If Wrinkles seems like a glutton for ordering two complete meals, consider this guy's meal:

How's this for a last meal: 24 tacos, 2 cheeseburgers, 2 whole onions, 5 jalapeno peppers, 6 enchiladas, 6 tostadas, one quart of milk and one chocolate milkshake? That's what David Castillo, convicted murderer, packed in the night before Texas shot him up with a lethal injection. Or how about this: A dozen steamed mussels, a Burger King double cheeseburger with mustard, mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato, a can of Franco-American spaghetti with meatballs, a mango, half of a pumpkin pie with whipped cream, and a strawberry milkshake -- all that went down the hatch of killer Thomas Grasso on the eve of Oklahoma's giving him the needle.

It's kind of gruesome when you think about it, giving someone his last dream meal just before kicking him off the planet. Why not a last roll in the hay or a last binge? Alcohol and tobacco, by the way, are usually denied as part of the last meal. Now, that's cruel and unusual punishment.

Quantcast