- 1 year ago
The final words of criminals on death row often leave a lasting impact due to their poignancy, humor, or disturbing nature. Here are some notable last statements that have been remembered for their uniqueness:
1. **Jimmy L. Glass**: Convicted of murder, Glass’s last words before his execution in 1987 were: “I’d rather be fishing.” His statement is often remembered for its almost casual, nonchalant nature in the face of death.
2. **Vincent Gutierrez**: Executed in 2007 for murder, Gutierrez’s final words included a mix of remorse and gratitude: “I’m sorry. I truly am. Life goes on. It’s been a great honor. I feel it; I’m going home.”
3. **Aileen Wuornos**: The infamous female serial killer’s last words before her execution in 2002 were bizarre and cryptic: “I’d just like to say I’m sailing with the rock, and I’ll be back like Independence Day with Jesus, June 6, like the movie, big mother ship and all. I’ll be back.”
4. **James French**: Convicted of murder and executed in 1966, French’s final words were darkly humorous: “How’s this for your headline? ‘French fries.’” This macabre play on words was aimed at the media.
5. **John Wayne Gacy**: Known as the “Killer Clown,” Gacy’s final words before his execution in 1994 were defiant and chilling: “Kiss my ass.”
6. **Gary Gilmore**: One of the first people executed in the U.S. after the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, Gilmore’s last words were straightforward and have become iconic: “Let’s do it.”
7. **Carl Panzram**: A notorious serial killer, Panzram’s final words before his execution in 1930 were filled with anger and defiance: “Hurry it up, you Hoosier
1. **Jimmy L. Glass**: Convicted of murder, Glass’s last words before his execution in 1987 were: “I’d rather be fishing.” His statement is often remembered for its almost casual, nonchalant nature in the face of death.
2. **Vincent Gutierrez**: Executed in 2007 for murder, Gutierrez’s final words included a mix of remorse and gratitude: “I’m sorry. I truly am. Life goes on. It’s been a great honor. I feel it; I’m going home.”
3. **Aileen Wuornos**: The infamous female serial killer’s last words before her execution in 2002 were bizarre and cryptic: “I’d just like to say I’m sailing with the rock, and I’ll be back like Independence Day with Jesus, June 6, like the movie, big mother ship and all. I’ll be back.”
4. **James French**: Convicted of murder and executed in 1966, French’s final words were darkly humorous: “How’s this for your headline? ‘French fries.’” This macabre play on words was aimed at the media.
5. **John Wayne Gacy**: Known as the “Killer Clown,” Gacy’s final words before his execution in 1994 were defiant and chilling: “Kiss my ass.”
6. **Gary Gilmore**: One of the first people executed in the U.S. after the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, Gilmore’s last words were straightforward and have become iconic: “Let’s do it.”
7. **Carl Panzram**: A notorious serial killer, Panzram’s final words before his execution in 1930 were filled with anger and defiance: “Hurry it up, you Hoosier
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NewsTranscript
00:00Rupert Ames, do you have anything you want to say?
00:02Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at 20 Executed Criminals' Last Words.
00:08On June 6th, just like the movie, on the big mother ship, I'll be back, I'll be back.
00:16For this video, we're looking at the final statements made by those on death row that
00:20were memorable, disturbing, or, well, gruesomely funny in their own way.
00:25Not all of these last words can be confirmed 100%, so we're referring to what's been
00:29popularly or most often attributed to the criminals in question by news sources and
00:34the media.
00:35Which of these quotes gave you the chills?
00:36Let us know in the comments below.
00:39Shoot Straight
00:40Harry Breaker Harbord Morant
00:42Born in 1864, Breaker Morant served as an Anglo-Australian military officer.
00:48After fighting in the Anglo-Boer War, Morant was eventually court-martialed for war crimes.
00:53This sort of prosecution was unheard of at the time, but having committed the revenge
00:56killings of prisoners of war and innocent civilians, he was convicted of murder in 1902.
01:02And Morant's no-nonsense final choice of words likely elicited a small chuckle or smirk from
01:07those on the firing squad with a dark sense of humor.
01:10Quote,
01:11"'Shoot straight, you bastards.
01:12Don't make a mess of it.'"
01:13And that was that.
01:15Shoot straight, you bastards.
01:17Don't make a mess of it.
01:18He just lost my vote.
01:20Christopher Scott Emmett
01:21One fateful night in 2001, this Virginia-based roofer found himself sharing a motel room
01:26with a co-worker.
01:28After grilling and playing cards together, Emmett beat the man to death and stole his
01:31wallet to buy drugs.
01:33Although his final words start out as you might expect,
01:36"'Tell my family and friends I love them,' they quickly take an odd turn."
01:40Emmett managed to sneak in a jab at the government and make light of his fate before the lethal
01:44injection did him in.
01:45Quote,
01:46"'Tell the governor he just lost my vote.
01:48Y'all hurry this along.
01:49I'm dying to get out of here.
01:51I'd rather be fishing.'"
01:53Jimmy L. Glass
01:54Here's yet another criminal with a seriously morbid funny streak.
02:00In 1982, Glass was serving a sentence in a Louisiana jail when he escaped with a fellow
02:05inmate.
02:06While on the run, they murdered a husband and wife and were soon after sentenced to
02:10death by electric chair.
02:11Glass gained national attention when he petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court claiming the chair
02:16was quote,
02:17"'cruel and unusual punishment,' but his plea was eventually shot down with a vote
02:21of five to four.
02:23What followed was a set of final words that would fit better on a coffee mug.
02:27Quote,
02:28"'I'd rather be fishing.'"
02:30Keep the Faith
02:31Richard Zitevogel
02:32Similar to Glass, Zitevogel was already serving time when he committed the crime that earned
02:37him the death penalty.
02:38Unlike Glass, however, he never left prison to commit it.
02:42Zitevogel was arrested for robbery and sexual assault in 1974.
02:46Ten years later, he made the decision to murder his cellmate.
02:49With prosecutors contending Zitevogel did this because he wanted to be on death row
02:53with fellow inmate Frank Guinan.
02:55As shocking and deranged as this sequence of events was, his zen and laid-back final
03:00words are even more baffling.
03:02Sounding like he was on the way to a rock concert and not his execution, Zitevogel said
03:07quote,
03:08"'Keep the faith and rock on.'"
03:09I just want everyone to know.
03:16Edward Anthony Ellis
03:17After being fired from his job as a maintenance worker in an apartment building, Ellis was
03:21convicted of strangling and killing 74-year-old resident Bertie Eakins in 1983, with eyewitness
03:27accounts and fingerprints corroborating his involvement in her murder.
03:31In the days before his execution, Ellis' lawyer produced a confession letter allegedly
03:35written by another individual.
03:37At the time, Texas had the highest number of capital punishments in any state, and this
03:42new evidence did little to sway the court.
03:44Unsurprisingly, Ellis was unhappy with the verdict, and made those sentiments known with
03:49his final words.
03:50Quote,
03:51I just want everyone to know that the prosecutor and Bill Scott are sorry sons of bitches.
03:56This is not an execution.
03:58Benny Demps
03:59In 1976, Demps was five years into a double life sentence for a double homicide in Lake
04:04County, Florida.
04:05An alleged snitch was discovered by Demps and a fellow inmate, and they stabbed him
04:09to death with a homemade knife.
04:11Unlike some others on this list, there was nothing humorous about Demps' final words,
04:16which generated much controversy.
04:18He complained about painful injuries allegedly sustained, while technicians struggled to
04:22insert the intravenous drip used to deliver the lethal injection.
04:26His last words were called out to Demps' lawyer, and added flame to the debate surrounding
04:30the treatment of death row inmates.
04:32Quote,
04:33This is not an execution.
04:34It is murder.
04:35I think that the governor's phone is broke.
04:38Jeffrey David Matthews
04:39Matthews was yet another criminal who landed on death row for some truly horrifying acts.
04:44Along with accomplice Tracy Dyer, Matthews robbed his great aunt and uncle, resulting
04:49in both an attempted murder and a murder respectively.
04:52After downing a meatlover's deep dish pizza, fried shrimp, and hush puppies as a final
04:56meal, Matthews gave a sentimental send-off, telling his loved ones how much he cared for
05:01them.
05:02Having already received three stays of execution courtesy of Governor Brad Henry, he went out
05:06with a humorous nod to the man, saying, quote,
05:09I think that governor's phone is broke.
05:11He hadn't called yet.
05:13My Trial Attorney
05:14George Bernard Harris
05:16It all started with a run of good luck at the casino.
05:19Harris won a considerable sum of money at the craps table on a winter's day in 1989,
05:23and decided that purchasing two machine guns, an Uzi and a .45-caliber Thompson automatic,
05:29would be a wise investment.
05:30To no one's surprise, it wasn't, and a heated argument with a friend tasked with hiding the
05:35guns resulted in Harris murdering said friend.
05:38He was arrested just days later for armed robbery, and subsequently convicted of murder
05:42and sentenced to death.
05:43Harris' last words were brash, startling, and memorable, to say the least.
05:48Quote,
05:49Somebody needs to kill my trial attorney.
05:51Hoka Hei
05:52Clarence Ray Allen
05:53Allen's story is perhaps the darkest on our list.
05:57Beginning in 1974, he robbed a local market with his son.
06:00They pulled off the job successfully, but then the son's 17-year-old girlfriend snitched
06:04on them.
06:05Allen subsequently ordered a hit on her, resulting in a life sentence in prison.
06:09While behind bars, Allen solicited help from a soon-to-be-released inmate to murder eight
06:14prosecution witnesses to help ensure a shorter term when his case was appealed.
06:19This second hit resulted in three more murders.
06:22In the minutes preceding lethal injection, Allen proclaimed, quote,
06:25Hoka Hei.
06:26It's a good day to die.
06:28Hoka Hei, an expression sometimes used by Western Sioux indigenous peoples, means hurry,
06:33hurry.
06:35Where's my stunt double?
06:36Vincent Gutierrez
06:37It seems that many of these criminals would have made great stand-up comedians in a different
06:41life.
06:42Gutierrez joined two friends in the carjacking of U.S. Air Force Captain Jose Cobo one morning
06:47in 1997.
06:48It went horribly wrong, and Cobo was shot and killed.
06:51In 2007, Vincent was executed by lethal injection.
06:55But before dying, he made a wisecrack that likely left onlookers unsure how to respond.
07:00He asked, quite simply, while laughing, quote,
07:03Where's a stunt double when you need one?
07:05This is a textbook example of gallows humor, and it just goes to show that some people
07:10are able to find something to laugh about even in the darkest of moments.
07:14Pleasure to end all pleasures.
07:16Peter Curtin
07:17The shadowy creep in the acclaimed 1931 film by Fritz Lang entitled M was purportedly inspired
07:23by Peter Curtin.
07:24Though the director denies this.
07:26Nicknamed the Vampire of Dusseldorf, Curtin terrorized that German city in 1929 and 1930,
07:32being charged with nine murders and seven attempted murders.
07:36He was sentenced to death via guillotine, an experience that he seemed disturbingly
07:40excited about, as in his last moments.
07:42He asked whether he'd be able to hear the aftermath of this particularly gruesome form
07:46of execution.
07:47He lost his head on July 2nd, 1931, with a smile on his face.
07:54Luddy Babs
07:55Barbara Graham
07:56You keep your sympathy to yourself, and I'll keep my business to myself.
07:59Oakland native and Hollywood sex worker Barbara Graham was only the third California female
08:03to meet her maker by way of gas execution.
08:07Graham found herself in such a predicament for her role in the vicious 1953 murder of
08:11an elderly Burbank woman.
08:13Despite her rather positive portrayal in the 1958 flick I Want to Live, Graham was allegedly
08:18the murderer.
08:19When you hear the pellets drop, count ten.
08:20Take a deep breath.
08:21It's easier that way.
08:22How do you know?
08:25Nicknamed Bloody Babs, she had a brief moment of clarity as the curtains closed.
08:29Curiously acknowledging that, quote,
08:31good people are always so sure they're right.
08:35Bogus Journey
08:36Robert Alton Harris
08:38Even as the gas chamber was made ready for Robert Alton Harris, an appeals court tonight
08:42granted a stay of execution.
08:44His was the first execution in California in a quarter of a century.
08:49And after a series of appeals and stays of execution, Robert Alton Harris met the end
08:54of his life with a misquotation from the second Bill & Ted movie.
08:57You might be a king or a little street sweeper, but sooner or later you dance with the reaper.
09:03That being, quote,
09:04you can be a king or a street sweeper, but everybody dances with the grim reaper.
09:09Indeed, in 1992, the North Carolina native lived out his final moments in San Quentin
09:14State Prison's gas chamber after he was convicted of two murders in the late 1970s.
09:19Meanwhile, his younger brother and accomplice Daniel Harris was given a six-year sentence
09:23after being convicted of kidnapping.
09:26Sailing with the Rock
09:28I have to come clean and cleanse my spirit in the name of Jesus Christ.
09:32In the early 90s, a Florida sex worker killed seven men, allegedly in self-defense.
09:38Yet the judicial system didn't quite buy the story of one Eileen Wuornos.
09:42I did the right thing.
09:44And I saved a lot of people's butts from getting hurt and raped and killed too.
09:48In fact, the state of Florida handed down six death sentences.
09:51And, as you might have already guessed, it was inevitable that Wuornos would receive
09:55that fateful injection.
09:57Thank you, judge.
09:59And may you rot in hell, sending a white woman to death.
10:05But before the injection, Wuornos left a memorable message.
10:09Quote
10:09She would be sailing away with the Rock.
10:13She'll be back with Jesus Christ.
10:17Like on Independence Day, on June 6th, just like the movie, on the Big Mother ship.
10:26I'll be back.
10:27I'll be back.
10:28Personal branding.
10:30Gary Gilmore.
10:31He began writing poetry, drawing, and educating himself in the humanities, art, and literature.
10:37Notorious for his unusual demand that his death sentence be carried out by firing squad,
10:42Gary Gilmore faced such a squad in Utah just six months after he murdered two men.
10:47Gary was loosely bound to a chair with padded nylon straps.
10:50He sat facing a gray muslin curtain only 25 feet away.
10:54There were five small openings for the rifles.
10:57Based on new regulations, the execution marked the first in nearly 10 years
11:02within the United States judicial system.
11:04The order of the Fourth Judicial District Court of the state of Utah has been carried out.
11:11Gary Mark Gilmore is dead.
11:13Oddly enough, his final words inspired the catchphrase for one of the world's most successful
11:18sporting brands, facing five volunteer gunmen.
11:21Gilmore spouted the infamous final phrase, quote,
11:23"'Let's do it' on January 17th, 1977."
11:27A little over a decade later, stars like Michael Jordan were selling sneakers
11:32through a campaign with a similar slogan.
11:34What if my face wasn't on TV every other second?
11:39Spaghetti-o fail.
11:40Thomas J. Grasso.
11:41In the hours before his execution, the murderer of two elderly victims released a string of
11:47cryptic statements to the press, channeling the likes of T.S. Eliot
11:50and even dropping his own poem.
11:52I've been working on this poem for 12 years.
11:54Really?
11:56There's a lot of expectation.
11:59I don't want to disappoint my fans.
12:00When it came time for Thomas J. Grasso to punch his one-way ticket, though,
12:04it was Spaghetti-O's that engulfed his mind.
12:06Are you hungry?
12:07For Spaghetti-O's!
12:08Yeah!
12:09Hooray!
12:10Ordering a variety of foods for his final meal, ranging from Burger King to pumpkin pie,
12:15Grasso let it be known that, quote,
12:17I did not get my Spaghetti-O's.
12:19I got spaghetti.
12:20I want the press to know this.
12:22Baked Appel.
12:23George Appel.
12:24Not to be confused with noted Australian politician John George Appel,
12:28the Big Apple cop killer named George Appel kept it light in the face of certain death.
12:33Appel found humor in his own name, his imminent death, and perhaps even in the city itself.
12:38Strapped to an electric chair in 1928, Mr. Appel delivered a well-timed pun by stating,
12:44Well, gentlemen, you are about to see a baked Appel.
12:47It was as though he'd been preparing the punchline for years.
12:52That'd be a good joke, if it was funny.
12:55Gallo's Epiphany.
12:56Wesley Allen Dodd.
12:58Killer is scheduled to be hanged at one minute after 3 a.m. our time.
13:01It's never certain how a killer will react in court,
13:04but Wesley Allen Dodd actually requested his own hanging,
13:08a method he used in his own criminal acts.
13:10Dodd himself has called for an end to all appeals on his behalf,
13:14saying he wants to die.
13:15He seemingly tried to become famous for his crimes,
13:17boasting to the media and supposedly helping parents
13:20by writing prevention material during his trial.
13:23What would compel him to carry out such horrifying schemes?
13:27However, in the end, Wesley Allen Dodd did afford the victim's families
13:31at least a bit of solace by noting,
13:33Quote,
13:41I was wrong when I said there was no hope, no peace.
13:43There is hope, there is peace.
13:46I found both in the Lord, Jesus Christ.
13:48Look to the Lord and you will find peace.
13:52Hoosier Bastard.
13:53Carl Panzeram.
14:05Mistreated by corrections officers as an adolescent,
14:08Carl Panzeram unsurprisingly went on to live a troubled life.
14:12We can see evidence of kids who may grow into psychopaths
14:17very early, as young as three years old.
14:19This ultimately led to a 1920 killing spree in New Haven, Connecticut
14:23that claimed dozens of victims.
14:25Like most killers, Panzeram was known to inflate the numbers of his crimes
14:29and refused to apologize all the way up to his 1930 hanging.
14:33I'm sorry for only two things.
14:35These two things are,
14:37I am sorry that I have mistreated some few animals in my lifetime.
14:41And I am sorry that I am unable to murder the whole damn human race.
14:46Even at the end, he continued to boast by hollering out,
14:49Quote,
14:49Yes, hurry it up, you Hoosier bastard.
14:51I could kill a dozen men while you're screwing around.
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15:11French Fries, James French.
15:13Push the button.
15:15The only U.S. criminal executed for his crimes in 1966,
15:19James French was the last man executed prior to the case Furman v. Georgia,
15:23which temporarily suspended executions in the U.S.
15:26It was stricken, as I read, the variety of opinions,
15:30primarily because it was arbitrary.
15:33He pushed the process along by adding his cellmate to his list of victims,
15:37as French was apparently scared to take his own life.
15:40Where is he?
15:42Choking on his last meal, I hope.
15:44French had some odd yet revealing words once his death by electric chair came calling,
15:49and appeared to anticipate the headlines of the next day's morning news by uttering,
15:53Quote,
15:54How's this for your headline?
15:55French Fries.
15:57French Fries.
16:00A well-thought-out joke,
16:01but one he'd probably been waiting to deliver since his first brush with the law.
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