serial killer stories: 21 brutal cases and what they ate as last meals

The ritual of allowing condemned prisoners a final meal before execution taps into deep curiosity. People ask what a killer will pick, and those choices often reveal odd comforts or blunt normalcy. Warning: this piece contains descriptions of sexual violence and murder.

Why society fixates on “last meals” and death row rituals

The last meal tradition mixes ritual, mercy, and spectacle. Families of victims, journalists, and the public look for meaning in a condemned person’s last hours. Sometimes the orders are lavish. Other times they are small or refused. Those contrasts fuel debate about punishment, dignity, and human behavior.

Psychologists say final requests can reflect denial, coping, or control. Prison systems vary in policy, which affects what can be served. Food becomes a final statement, however ordinary or extravagant.

Notorious executions and the meals that followed them

1. John Wayne Gacy — The “Killer Clown”

   Gacy sexually assaulted, tortured, and murdered dozens of young men in the 1970s around Chicago. He was convicted of at least 33 murders and put to death in 1994.

   Final meal:

   • Bucket of KFC chicken
   • 12 fried prawns
   • One pound of strawberries
   • French fries
   • Diet Coke

2. Ted Bundy — Charismatic serial killer of the 1970s

   Bundy kidnapped, raped, and murdered scores of young women across several states. He confessed to 30 homicides and was executed in Florida in 1989.

   Final meal: He declined a special order, so prison staff served the standard Florida state meal:

   • Medium-rare steak
   • Eggs over easy
   • Hash browns
   • Toast with butter and jelly
   • Milk and juice

3. Aileen Wuornos — The “Damsel of Death”

   Convicted of killing several men in Florida between 1989 and 1990 while working as a sex worker, Wuornos alternately claimed self-defense and later admitted to robbery-motivated killings. She was executed in 2002.

   Final meal: She refused a special meal and instead chose a simple cup of coffee.

4. Gary Ray Bowles — The I‑95 killer

   Bowles targeted older gay men along the East Coast in 1994. Captured and convicted, he received the death penalty in Florida and was executed in 2019.

   Final meal:

   • Three cheeseburgers
   • Bacon
   • French fries

5. Oscar Ray Bolin — Florida serial murderer

   Bolin killed multiple young women in the 1980s. Arrested after tips and legal battles, he spent decades on death row before his 2016 execution.

   Final meal:

   • Medium-rare rib-eye steak
   • Baked potato with butter and sour cream
   • Salad (iceberg, cucumber, tomato)
   • Baked garlic bread
   • Lemon meringue pie
   • Bottle of Coca‑Cola

6. David Alan Gore — One of the “Killing Cousins”

   Gore and his cousin abducted, raped, and murdered women in Florida in the early 1980s. Gore used his auxiliary deputy status to lure victims. He was executed in 2012.

   Final meal:

   • Fried chicken
   • French fries
   • Butter pecan ice cream

7. William Bonin — California’s “Freeway Killer”

   Bonin abducted and murdered teenage boys and young men in Southern California around 1979–1980. He was convicted of multiple counts and executed in 1996.

   Final meal:

   • Two large pepperoni and sausage pizzas
   • Three pints of coffee ice cream
   • Three six-packs of Coca‑Cola

8. Bobby Joe Long — The “Classified Ad Rapist”

   Long targeted women through personal ads in Tampa Bay in 1984, committing assaults and murders. A surviving victim provided evidence that led to his arrest. He was executed in 2019.

   Final meal:

   • Roast beef
   • Bacon
   • French fries
   • Soda

9. Stephen Peter Morin — The “Chameleon”

   Morin drifted across the U.S. in the 1970s and ’80s, using multiple aliases to target mostly young women. He pleaded guilty and was executed in 1985.

   Final meal:

   • T-bone steak
   • Baked potato
   • Sweet green peas
   • Bread rolls
   • Banana pudding
   • Coffee

10. Rhonda Belle Martin — Poisoner within her family

    In the mid-20th century, Martin used rat poison to kill relatives, including children. One attempted victim survived but was left paralyzed. She was electrocuted in Alabama in 1957.

    Final meal:

    • Hamburger
    • Mashed potatoes
    • Cinnamon rolls
    • Coffee

11. Danny Rolling — The “Gainesville Ripper”

    Rolling murdered and staged the bodies of five college students in Gainesville in 1990. DNA and confession linked him to the crimes. He was executed in 2006.

    Final meal:

    • Lobster tail
    • Butterfly shrimp
    • Baked potato
    • Strawberry cheesecake
    • Sweet tea

12. John Fautenberry — The transient trucker killer

    Fautenberry, a long-haul driver, targeted strangers on the road in the early 1990s. Arrested in Alaska, he confessed to multiple killings and faced execution after years on death row.

    Final meal:

    • Two eggs, sunny-side up
    • Fried bologna
    • Toast with butter and jelly
    • Tomato slices and lettuce with mayo
    • Fried potatoes
    • Two 3 Musketeers bars
    • Two packs of Reese’s

13. John Martin Scripps — “Tourist from Hell”

    Scripps traveled abroad and murdered fellow travelers in Southeast Asia in the mid-1990s, using butchery skills learned in prison. He was convicted in Singapore and hanged in 1996.

    Final meal: Pizza and hot chocolate.

14. Jack Harrison Trawick — The “Birmingham Killer”

    Trawick was convicted of multiple murders in Alabama in the early 1990s. Diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, he claimed other killings but most were never confirmed. He was executed by lethal injection in 2009.

    Final meal:

    • Fried chicken
    • French fries
    • Onion soup
    • Roll

15. Sean Sellers — Teenager executed for multiple murders

    Sellers was 16 when he killed a store clerk and later murdered his mother and stepfather. He later claimed occult influences. He was executed in 1999, a rare case of execution for crimes committed under 17 after 1976.

    Final meal:

    • Egg rolls
    • Wontons
    • Sweet and sour chicken
    • Fried shrimp
    • Chow mein
    • Stir-fried vegetables
    • Three cans of V8
    • Squirt soda

16. Stephen Albert McCoy — Houston-area violent offender

    McCoy and an accomplice carried out abductions, rape, and killings in the Houston area. Convicted of capital murder, he was executed in Huntsville, Texas, in 1989.

    Final meal:

    • Cheeseburger
    • French fries
    • Strawberry milkshake

17. Charles Albanese — Arsenic poisoner for profit

    Albanese slipped arsenic into the food and drink of relatives between 1980 and 1981 to steal from them. Exhumations exposed the crimes, and he was executed in 1995.

    Final meal:

    • Prime rib
    • Baked potato
    • Garlic bread
    • Coffee
    • Pistachio ice cream

18. Thomas Warren Whisenhant — Alabama mutilator

    Active in the 1970s, Whisenhant killed lone clerks and mutilated victims. After multiple trials and appeals, he was executed in 2010.

    Final meal:

    • Chicken leg quarters
    • French fries
    • American cheese
    • Orange drink
    • Coffee
    • Chocolate pudding

19. Randy Greenawalt — Prison escapee and mass killer

    Greenawalt, serving convictions for murder, escaped in 1978 with Gary Tison and others. During a 12-day crime spree they killed multiple civilians. He was executed in 1997.

    Final meal:

    • Two cheeseburgers
    • French fries with extra salt
    • Coffee with milk

20. James Waybern Hall — 1940s hitchhiker killer

    Hall murdered his young wife in 1944 and later admitted to additional killings across the South and Midwest. Convicted and executed by electrocution in 1946 at age 24.

    Final meal:

    • Steak
    • Pork chops
    • Strawberry ice cream

21. Martha Beck — One half of the “Lonely Hearts Killers”

    Beck and Raymond Fernandez used personal ads to lure victims after World War II. They killed at least three people and were executed at Sing Sing in 1951.

    Final meal:

    • Fried chicken
    • Fried potatoes
    • Salad