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Topics: Death Row, Texas, US News, Crime, True crime
Joe Yates
Topics: Death Row, Texas, US News, Crime, True crime
We read about wicked people dying having waited years on death row, and we also hear tales of innocent lives being taken away following wrongful convictions.
What we don't hear is what actually goes on in an inmate's final hours before execution.
Yes, we know that they are given one final privilege before death knocks, in the form of a final meal... but we don't know much more.
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Most countries in the world that still carry out the death penalty allow for prisoners to choose what they want to eat before they are executed - even the countries that have abolished it did.
But in Texas, inmates aren't as lucky thanks to despicable murderer Lawrence Brewer, who in 2011 requested a huge and expensive meal, but when he was presented it, said he wasn't hungry and didn't even touch it.
Following that, State Senator John Whitmire called for the tradition to be terminated, which prison officials agreed to.
His meal included: two chicken fried steaks with gravy and sliced onions and a triple-patty bacon cheeseburger and a cheese omelet with ground beef, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers and jalapeños.
And there was a lot more - a bowl of fried okra with ketchup, one pound of barbecued meat with half a loaf of white bread, three fully loaded fajitas, a meat-lover's pizza, one pint of Blue Bell vanilla ice cream, a slab of peanut-butter fudge with crushed peanuts on top, and three root beers.
Outside of the final meal, what happens in those final hours?
Well, journalist Michelle Lyons, who has witnessed almost 300 executions at Texas State Penitentiary, Huntsville Unit, has written a book titled 'Death Row: The Final Minutes: My life as an execution witness in America's most infamous prison' which explains exactly what goes on.
"On the day of an execution, the inmate is given four hours to meet with their family and friends in the morning. Then, once those visits conclude they are loaded into a van and taken from the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, which is where all of Texas death row for men [are housed]," Lyons writes.
At the 'death chamber' inmates are strip-searched before being handed new clothes and their fingerprints being taken.
"The inmate is then given tea, coffee, and a big plate of cookies, while they’re also allowed to call anyone in the continental United States before their death. They usually meet with a chaplain, who speaks to them about their spiritual beliefs," she adds.
In their final moments, they are walked to the execution chamber by guards who then tie them to the gurney, and just above their head there is a microphone for them to speak into so they can issue their final statement if they wish to.
The more you know.