These famous last words will shake you to your core.
1. “I don’t care if I live or die. Go ahead and kill me.”
Name: Jeffrey Dahmer, “Milwaukee Cannibal.”
Crime: raped and killed 17 men and boys in the 1980s.
Punishment: beaten to death by a fellow inmate on November 28th, 1994.
2. “Hurrah for anarchy! This is the happiest moment of my life.”
Name: George Engel
Crime: one of the four responsible for the 1886 Haymarket bombing in Chicago.
Punishment: hanged on November 11th, 1887.
3. “Tell me. After my head has been chopped off, will I still be able to hear, at least for a moment, the sound of my own blood gushing from the stump of my neck? That would be a pleasure to end all pleasures.”
Name: Peter Kürten, “The Vampire of Dusseldorf.”
Crime: raped and killed (and once drank the blood) of almost 60 people.
Punishment: executed by guillotine on July 2nd, 1931.
4. “Hurry it up, you Hoosier bastard! I could hang a dozen men while you’re screwing around!”
Name: Carl Panzram
Crime: infamous serial killer, arsonist, and rapist.
Punishment: hanged on September 5th, 1930.
5. “Okay Warden, let’s do it. I love y’all. I can taste it already. I am starting to go.”
Name: John Avalos Alba
Crime: fatally shot his wife while on bail for a child molestation charge.
Punishment: executed by lethal injection on May 25th, 2010.
6. “I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.”
Name: Timothy McVeigh
Crime: Oklahoma City bombing (killing 168 people in 1995).
Punishment: executed by lethal injection on June 11th, 2001.
7. “Turn up the radio and I’ll go quietly.”
Name: Peter Manuel, “The Beast of Birkenshaw.”
Crime: murdered and raped at least 7 people.
Punishment: hanged on July 11th, 1958.
8. “Freedom, freedom at last! It’s been a good one!”
Name: John W. Rook
Crime: kidnapped and raped a hospital nurse before running her body over with his car.
Punishment: executed by lethal injection on September 20th, 1986.
9. “I’d like you to give my love to my family and friends.”
Name: Ted Bundy
Crime: famous serial killer who raped and murderer an unknown number of women during the 1970s.
Punishment: executed by the electric chair on January 4th, 1989.
10. “I’d rather be fishing.”
Name: Jimmy Glass
Crime: escaped prison and killed Newton and Erlene Brown.
Punishment: executed by electric chair on June 12th, 1987.
11. “I’d just like to say I’m sailing with the rock, and I’ll be back like Independence Day, with Jesus, June 6th. Like the movie, big mother ship and all. I’ll be back.”
Name: Aileen Wuornos
Crime: killed 7 men between the years 1989 and 1990.
Punishment: executed by lethal injection on October 9th, 2002.
12. “Let’s do it!”
Name: Gary Gilmore
Crime: murder
Punishment: executed by a firing squad on January 17, 1977.
***Fun fact: these last words were the inspiration for the Nike logo.
13. “How’s this for a headline? ‘French Fries.’”
Name: James French
Crime: murder
Punishment: executed by electric chair on August 10th, 1966.
14. “An innocent man is going to be murdered tonight. When my innocence is proven, I hope Americans will realize the injustice of the death penalty as all other civilized countries have.”
Name: Roger Keith Coleman
Crime: convicted of murdering his sister-in-law.
Punishment: executed by electric chair on May 20th, 1992.
15. “I took a father, it wasn’t my fault, it was an accident … God knows the truth.” Shannon was smiling and humming as witnesses entered the death chamber. He told the Garza family that his smile was “not from happiness. If my life could bring your father back, then let it be. Don’t take my smile for disrespect.” Shannon said he was going to heaven. He said if he saw his victim, he would ask Garza for forgiveness. “I’ll say when I see him, ‘I’m sorry.'” He urged the relatives of his victim to “go home, have fun, smile. I’m happy. Why should I lie now. I have no anger. I have no fear.”
Name: Willie Shannon
Crime: murdered a grandfather while trying to steal his car.
Punishment: executed in a gas chamber on November 8th, 2006.
16. “Well, gentlemen, you are about to see a baked Appel.”
Name: George Appel
Crime: killed a police officer.
Punishment: executed by electric chair in 1928.
17. “I did not get my Spaghetti-Os, I got spaghetti. I want the press to know this.”
Name: Thomas J. Grasso
Crime: murdered two people.
Punishment: executed by lethal injection on March 20th, 1995.
18. “Kiss my ass.”
Name: John Wayne Gacy, “Killer Clown.”
Crime: raped and murdered 33 men in a 6-year span.
Punishment: executed by lethal injection on May 10th, 1994.
19. “I have nothing to say.”
Name: Amelia Dyer
Crime: thought to have murdered over 400 children.
Punishment: hanged on June 10th, 1896.
20. “Go Raiders!”
Name: Robert Charles Comer
Crime: condemned killer and rapist.
Punishment: executed by lethal injection in 1988.
21. “Take a step forward, lads. It will be easier that way.”
Name: Erskine Childers
Crime: Irish patriot rebel.
Punishment: executed by a firing squad on November 24th, 1922.
22. “You sons of bitches. Give my love to Mother.”
Name: Francis “Two Gun” Crowley
Crime: murderer and criminal
Punishment: executed in the electric chair in 1931.
23. “Good people are always so sure they’re right.”
Name: Barbara Graham
Crime: criminal and murderer.
Punishment: killed in the gas chamber on June 3rd, 1955.
24. “You can be a king or a street sweeper, but everyone dances with the Grim Reaper.”
Name: Robert Alton Harris
Crime: convicted of murdering two teenage boys.
Punishment: executed in the gas chamber on April 21st, 1992.
25. “I am innocent, innocent, innocent. Make no mistake about this. I owe society nothing. I am an innocent man and something very wrong is taking place tonight.”
Name: Lionel Herrera
Crime: murdered two police officers.
Punishment: executed by lethal injection on May 12th, 1993.
26. “I love you, mom.”
Name: Clarence Lackey
Crime: convicted of capital murder.
Punishment: executed by lethal injection on May 2nd, 1997.
27. “Capital punishment: them without the capital get the punishment.”
Name: John Spenkelink
Crime: murder
Punishment: executed in the electric chair on May 25th, 1979.
28. “Beam me up.”
Name: Gary Burris
Crime: murder
Punishment: executed by lethal injection on November 20th, 1997.
29. “See you all on the other side. Warden, murder me … I’m ready to roll. Time to get this party started.”
Name: James Jackson
Crime: killed his wife and two step-daughters.
Punishment: executed by lethal injection on February 7th, 2007.
30. “Kathy, you know I never meant to hurt you. I gave you everything, and that’s what made me so angry. But I never meant to hurt you. I’m sorry.”
Name: Carlos Granados
Crime: stabbed his girlfriend Kathy Jiminez and killed her 3 year old son.
Punishment: executed by lethal injection January 10th, 2007.
31. “There is no way words can express how sorry I am for taking the lives of my babies. Now I can be with my babies, as I always intended.”
Name: Christina Marie Riggs
Crime: killed her two young children.
Punishment: executed by lethal injection on May 3rd, 2000.
32. “My darling Gerti, my wife, I love you endlessly my honeybird. Till we meet again, stay strong. Love, Billy.”
Name: William Jones
Crime: murdered the man he was having a gay affair with.
Punishment: executed October on 20th, 2002.
33. “I understand the feelings of the Oestricker family, and I ask their forgiveness…I want to stress to them that I did not go down there that night to harm Jerry. I deeply regret how it turned out.”
Name: James W. Chambers
Crime: fatally shot Jerry Oestricker.
Punishment: executed on November 15th, 2000.
34. “I love you all, and I’m sorry for what I done. I’m sorry for killing your mom and what I done to you.”
Name: Rocky Barton
Crime: murdered his wife.
Punishment: executed by lethal injection on July 12th, 2006.
35. “I can’t really pinpoint where it started, what happened, but really believe that’s just the bottom line, what happened to me was in California. I was in their reformatory schools and penitentiary, but ah, they create monsters in there.”
