Last Meals Of Death Row Inmates: What Timothy McVeigh, Ted Bundy And John Wayne Gacy Chose (PICTURES)

A Single Olive, A Bucket Of Fried Chicken And Two Pints Of Ice Cream: Last Meals Of Death Row Inmates

Source: Caters

These are the last suppers requested by nine death row inmates hours before they were executed.

Photographer Henry Hargreaves recreated the savoury spreads before photographing them from a prisoner's-eye-view.

One inmate, Victor Feguer, 28, simply requested a single unpitted olive - presented on a huge ceramic plate and accompanied with a knife and fork.

While serial killer Timothy McVeigh - who was jailed for 168 counts of murder - opted to skip mains and ordered two pints of mint and chocolate chip ice cream.

Bizarrely Ronnie Lee Gardener - who was killed by firing squad in Utah - watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy as he wolfed down a lobster tail, steak, apple pie and vanilla ice cream.

Artist Henry, from Brooklyn, New York, said: "When you read about the death row inmates they were just names and statistics.

"But once I found out about what they ate as their last meal they began to come to life.

"I could see a little corner of their personality."

John Wayne Gacy opted for fried chicken, shrimp, chips and strawberries

Each meal was meticulously restaged by Henry in his studio, with everything down to the table cloth and cutlery matching the era of the execution.

It cost him hundreds of dollars to buy ingredients needed - before rustling up the meals himself.

But the inmates themselves were refused alcohol and could only receive a meal costing up to $40.

Henry added: "I tried to recreate the meals as if the prisoner had just sat down to eat and they are looking into their plate.

"Different prisons, different states and different eras all meant I had to create very different settings for each one.

"It's a new look at the traditional ritual to grant a condemned person a final meal of their request and to receive religious right."

Henry focused on death row inmates in America - where an estimated 3,000 people are currently waiting to be executed - picking the oddest requests recorded.

And the powerful work has received rave reviews after being displayed online.

Henry said: "I was showing the series to an older gentleman and I could see tears welling in his eyes.

"Although he didn't say anything I knew right then that he had a personal connection at some point with this ritual.

"I only picked the most bizarre last meals such as the guy who ordered just a single olive, which easily had to be the strangest.

"There has been some speculation on the significance of this as an olive is believed to be a symbol of rebirth, so to be buried with an olive pit in your stomach is an interesting notion."

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