A man was put to death by lethal injection on Thursday in the American state of Oklahoma, and Alabama carried out an execution with nitrogen gas – the second time such a method has been used in the United States.
The two killings bring the total number of executions this year in the United States to 18, including five in the past week alone.
The spree has reignited both horror and interest in the death penalty – which is retained in 23 states – and has once again ignited the debate over its use.
Reporting on the five cases has also reignited a morbid fascination in the final words uttered by those about to be executed.
While it is not a constitutional right, it has long been tradition to allow prisoners to make a final statement. In some states, officials place a limit on how long this statement can last, while others have tried to make such statements written only.
Regardless of how they have been delivered, America’s history of final words is greatly varied, with the five in the past week alone have demonstrated this.
The executed men pleaded their innocence, reassured their family members watching on, said their final thanks, prayed to their god – or simply said ‘bye’.
Here, DailyMail.com takes a look back at some of the most notable final words, beginning with the five from the past week:
Alan Eugene Miller
Last words: ‘I didn’t do anything to be on death row.’
Alan Eugene Miller, 59, was executed with nitrogen gas at a south Alabama prison on Thursday, two years after the state previously attempted to execute him by lethal injection.
Miller was convicted of killing three men – Lee Holdbrooks, Christopher Scott Yancy and Terry Jarvis – in back-to-back workplace shootings in 1999.
All three men were shot multiple times. A prosecutor told jurors at the 2000 trial that the men ‘are not just murdered, they are executed.’
Miller had initially pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity but later withdrew the plea. A psychiatrist hired by the defense said that Miller was mentally ill but his condition wasn’t severe enough to use as a basis for an insanity defense, according to court documents.
Jurors convicted Miller after 20 minutes of deliberation and voted he receive the death penalty.
Alan Eugene Miller, 59, (pictured) was executed with nitrogen gas at a south Alabama prison on Thursday, two years after the state previously attempted to execute him by lethal injection. He was convicted of killing three men – Lee Holdbrooks, Christopher Scott Yancy and Terry Jarvis – in back-to-back workplace shootings in 1999
Officials escort murder suspect Alan Eugene Miller away from the Pelham City Jail in Alabama, August 5, 1999
Miller was the second person in the US to be put to death with nitrogen gas execution – a new method that involves placing a respirator gas mask over the inmate’s face to replace breathable air with pure nitrogen gas, causing death by lack of oxygen.
In January, Alabama put Kenneth Smith to death in the first nitrogen gas execution.
Alabama officials and advocates argued over whether Smith suffered an unconstitutional level of pain during his execution after he shook in seizure-like spasms for more than two minutes while strapped to the gurney and then gasped for breath for several minutes.
‘Alabama’s nitrogen hypoxia system is reliable and humane,’ Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said last month in announcing a lawsuit settlement agreement that allowed Miller’s execution. The state has scheduled a third nitrogen execution for November.
But death penalty opponents and advocates for other inmates facing nitrogen execution maintain that what happened with Smith shows there are problems with, or at least questions about, the method and say it should be scrutinized more before being used again.
Emmanuel Littlejohn
Last words: ‘Everything is going to be OK. I love you.’
Emmanuel Littlejohn, 52, received a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary on Thursday morning for his role in the 1992 shooting death of convenience store owner Kenneth Meers.
His execution came after Republican Governor Kevin Stitt declined to commute his sentence to life in prison without parole.
A state appellate court on Wednesday denied a last-minute legal challenge to the constitutionality of the state’s lethal injection method of execution. A similar appeal filed in federal court was also rejected Thursday.
Emmanuel Littlejohn, 52, (left) received a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary on Thursday morning for his role in the 1992 shooting death of convenience store owner Kenneth Meers (right)
Littlejohn was 20 when prosecutors say he and co-defendant Glenn Bethany robbed the Root-N-Scoot convenience store in south Oklahoma City in June 1992. Meers, 31, was killed.
During video testimony to the Pardon and Parole Board last month, Littlejohn apologized to Meers’ family but denied firing the fatal shot.
Littlejohn’s attorneys pointed out that the same prosecutor tried Bethany and Littlejohn in separate trials using a nearly identical theory, even though there was only one shooter and one bullet that killed Meers.
But prosecutors told the board that two teenage store employees who witnessed the robbery both said Littlejohn, not Bethany, fired the fatal shot. Bethany was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Littlejohn’s attorneys also argued that killings resulting from a robbery are rarely considered death penalty cases and that prosecutors today would not have pursued the ultimate punishment.
‘It is evident that Emmanuel would not have been sentenced to death if he’d been tried in 2024 or even 2004,’ attorney Caitlin Hoeberlein told the board.
Littlejohn was prosecuted by former Oklahoma County District Attorney Bob Macy, who was known for his zealous pursuit of the death penalty and secured 54 death sentences during more than 20 years in office.
Because of the board’s 3-2 recommendation, Stitt had the option of commuting Littlejohn’s sentence to life in prison without parole.
‘A jury found him guilty and sentenced him to death,’ said Stitt. He added, ‘As a law and order governor, I have a hard time unilaterally overturning that decision.’
On Thursday, Littlejohn was strapped to a gurney and with an IV line in his right arm, Littlejohn looked toward his mother and daughter, who witnessed the execution.
‘Mom, you OK?’ Littlejohn asked.
‘I’m OK,’ his mother, Ceily Mason, responded.
‘Everything is going to be OK. I love you,’ he said.
Mason sobbed quietly during the lethal injection, which began shortly after 10 a.m. Littlejohn’s breathing became labored before a doctor declared him unconscious at 10:07 a.m. He was pronounced dead 10 minutes later.
Marcellus Williams
Last words: ‘All Praise Be to Allah In Every Situation!’
Marcellus Williams, 55, was put to death by lethal injection in Missouri on Tuesday despite the prosecutor’s office that secured his murder conviction 21 years ago having expressed doubts about the integrity of the case.
Williams was found guilty in 2003 of killing Felicia ‘Lisha’ Gayle, a former newspaper reporter who was stabbed to death in her home. He had maintained his innocence.
Marcellus Williams, 55, (pictured) was put to death by lethal injection in Missouri on Tuesday over the 1998 killing of Lisha Gayle, who was stabbed repeatedly during a burglary of her suburban St. Louis home
The St. Louis County prosecutor’s office – which originally secured his conviction in 2001 – had filed a motion to vacate the conviction after expressing concerns about the lack of DNA evidence linking Williams to the killing of Gayle. They also argued Williams did not receive a fair trial.
The victim’s family had also agreed to a deal that would see Williams sentenced to life in prison instead of being executed.
But his execution moved forward after both Missouri Governor Mike Parson and the state’s highest court also rejected his last-ditch bids to avoid execution.
The US Supreme Court, the last body that could have halted the execution, declined to intervene in the case hours before.
Travis Mullis
Last words: ‘I’d like to thank everyone…that accepted me for the man I became during my best and worst moments.’
Travis Mullis, 38, was executed by lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas on Tuesday night.
He was sentenced to death after he admitted to stomping and strangling his three-month-old son Alijah – after having molested the infant – in January 2008.
Mullis, a man with a long history of mental illness, has repeatedly sought to waive his right to appeal his death sentence. But his attorneys did not plan to file any appeals to try and stay his lethal injection.
Travis Mullis, 38, (pictured) was executed by lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas on Tuesday night
He was sentenced to death after he admitted to stomping and strangling his three-month-old son Alijah James Mullis (pictured) – after having after molested the infant – in January 2008
While strapped to the death chamber gurney on Tuesday night, Mullis thanked his supporters, as well as the prison officials and staff for ‘changes made across the system’ that allowed ‘even the men on death row to show it is possible to be rehabilitated and not deemed a threat and not the men we were when we came into this system.’
Mullis added that while he ‘took the legal steps to expedite to include assisted suicide, I don’t regret this decision, to legally expedite this process…I do regret the decision to take the life of my son.’
He apologized to his son’s mother, to her family and said he had no ill will toward anyone involved in the punishment. ‘It was my decision that put me here,’ he said.
Freddie Owens
Last word: ‘Bye.’
Freddie Owens, 46, was executed in South Carolina on Friday last week. He killed convenience store clerk Irene Graves during a botched robbery in Greenville in 1997.
During his trial, Owens murdered fellow inmate Christopher Lee at a county jail which earned him the death penalty.
Double murderer Freddie Owens died by lethal injection on Friday, September 20, 2024 in South Carolina’s first execution in 13 years
Owens killed convenience store clerk Irene Graves in Greenville in 1997 during a botched robbery, as well as county jail inmate Christopher Lee during his trial for Graves’ slaying
His death was South Carolina’s first execution in 13 years, an unintended delay caused by the inability of state prison officials to obtain the drugs needed for lethal injections.
To carry out executions, the state switched from a three-drug method to a new protocol of using a single sedative, pentobarbital.
Owens made no final statement, but said ‘bye’ to his attorney as he was strapped into a gurney where he awaited the lethal injection that led to his ultimate demise.
He remained conscious for a minute before his eyes closed, his breaths shortened and his face twitched for five minutes before he died.
Ted Bundy
Last words: ‘I’d like you to give my love to my family and friends.’
Notorious serial killer, rapist, and necrophiliac Ted Bundy, 42, was executed by electric chair in January 1989 after a lengthy legal fight and numerous stays.
He confessed to the murders of 30 women across the states of Oregon, Utah, Florida, Colorado, and Idaho, beginning in the 1970s – but the true figure might be much higher.
Bundy would target young women who were usually living independently either in the early stages of their career or as college students.
Ted Bundy, 42, (pictured in July 1978 after his grand jury indictment) was executed by electric chair in January 1989 after a lengthy legal fight and numerous stays. He confessed to the murders of 30 women in the across several states beginning in the 1970s – but the true figure might be much higher
He would typically approach them in public places and fake a disability in order to get them to assist him with a task, such as lifting something out of his car. Then he would batter them unconscious with a hammer or other blunt weapon before moving them to a secret location where he would rape and strangle them.
Often he would return to their bodies, sometimes washing them, putting make-up on them and sexually assaulting their corpses. In some instances he decapitated the dead bodies and stored the heads in his apartment.
He twice managed to escape jail, and was finally recaptured in February 1978.
Bundy’s case captured the imagination of the US public, and his trial was one of the first to be broadcast live on television.
Jimmy Glass
Last Words: ‘Yeah, I think I’d rather be fishing.’
Double murderer Jimmy Glass, 25, was executed in an electric chair in Louisiana in June 1987. He grinned as he was strapped into the chair.
He was sentenced to death over the murders of Newt Brown and his wife Erlene on Christmas Eve in 1982.
Glass had escaped from prison with fellow inmate Jimmy Wingo and went on to shoot the Browns dead after breaking into their home.
Jimmy Glass, 25, (pictured in 1982) was executed in an electric chair in Louisiana in June 1987. He was condemned over the murders of Newt and Erlene Brown on Christmas Eve in 1982
Glass contended that Wingo held a shotgun to his head and forced him to kill the couple after he called Wingo by his name.
Wingo, who was executed four days after Glass, denied having anything to do with the killings.
Two years before his execution, Glass petitioned the Supreme Court, arguing that electrocution violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution as ‘cruel and unusual punishment’.
His case was dismissed after the Court ruled by a majority of 5-4 the execution method was constitutional.
George Appel
Last words: ‘Well, gentlemen, you are about to see a baked Appel.’
George Appel, 41, was sent to the electric chair in 1928 for robbery and the murder of a New York City police officer.
He joked about being a ‘baked Appel’ as he was being strapped into the chair. Moments before his execution, he also said, ‘Damn, no power outage.’
George Appel, 41, (pictured) was sent to the electric chair in 1928 for robbery and the murder of a New York City police officer
Appel and an accomplice had just finished robbing a restaurant in Brooklyn when Police Lieutenant Charles J. Kemmer walked into the establishment, The New York Times reported at the time.
A struggle ensued between Kemmer and the assailants, and Appel shot the officer three times, prosecutors said.
The pair were only found because Kemmer managed to write down the license plate number of Appel’s getaway car as he lay in the restaurant, fatally wounded.
Appel was arrested and convicted of first-degree murder.
George Bernard Harris
Last words: ‘Somebody needs to kill my trial attorney.’
George Bernard Harris, 41, was executed by lethal injection in Missouri in September 2000 after shooting a man dead 11 years prior.
He shot Stanley Willoughby in the face in March 1989 after a heated argument over firearms, according to the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
George Bernard Harris, 41, (pictured) was executed by lethal injection in Missouri in September 2000 after shooting a man dead in March 1989
Harris had won big playing craps in Kansas City and used the funds to buy two machine guns.
He gave the guns to his friend Michael Taylor for safekeeping, who then enlisted Willoughby to hold them.
When Harris wanted the weapons back, Willoughby allegedly couldn’t find them. An argument grew heated and Harris fatally shot Willoughby.
He was later picked up for a robbery, then charged and convicted of murder.
James French
Last words: ‘How about this for a headline for tomorrow’s paper? French fries.’
James French, 30, was electrocuted in August 1966 at Oklahoma State Penitentiary after murdering his prison cell mate Eddie Lee Shelton.
It is understood that French, who was serving a life sentence when killed Shelton in October 1961, had been on a mission to die.
Shortly before he entered the death chamber, he also told prison officials: ‘I am not dying for murder, I am dying for my beliefs.’
James French, 30, (pictured) was electrocuted in August 1966 at Oklahoma State Penitentiary after murdering his prison cell mate Eddie Lee Shelton
French killed Shelton as he was serving a life sentence for the 1958 murder of a West Virginia man who gave him a ride while he was hitchhiking.
The double murderer admitted that he killed his cellmate because Shelton was ‘stupid…and refused to shape up’, The Oklahoman reported.
He also said he knew the punishment he would face when he killed Shelton.
French was convicted of Shelton’s murder in three trials, each time receiving the death penalty. But following each trial he would write to the appeals court and Pardon and Parole Board requesting to die.
The court complied with his wish to die following his third trial. French was the only person executed in the United States in 1966.
Aileen Wuornos
Last words: ‘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 mothership and all. I’ll be back.’
Aileen Wuornos, 46 – nicknamed the ‘Damsel of Death’ – was executed in October 2002 after confessing to murdering seven men she encountered on Florida highways in 1989 and 1990.
Before she died by lethal injection, the notorious female serial killer invoked the films The Terminator (1984) and Independence Day (1996) in her final statement.
Aileen Wuornos, 46, (pictured in 1991) was nicknamed the ‘Damsel of Death’. She was executed in October 2002 after confessing to murdering seven men she encountered on Florida highways in 1989 and 1990
Wuronos, a prostitute, was sentenced to death after being convicted of the murders.
She picked her victims up on the highway and shot them multiple times before dumping their bodies.
She initially claimed she had acted in self-defense, but later admitted she did it simply because she hated men and wanted to steal their money.
Police believe she was also responsible for the deaths of two further male victims.
Actress Charlize Theron won an Oscar for her portrayal of Wuornos in the 2003 movie Monster.
Westley Allan Dodd
Last words: ‘I was once asked by somebody, I don’t remember who, if there was any way sex offenders could be stopped. I said no. I was wrong.’
Westley Allan Dodd, 31, was executed by hanging at Washington State Penitentiary in January 1993. His death was the first legal hanging in the US in 28 years.
He was sentenced to death in 1990 after pleading guilty to the murder of three young boys.
Westley Allan Dodd, 31, (left) was executed by hanging at Washington State Penitentiary (right) in January 1993. His death was the first legal hanging in the US in 28 years
Dodd assaulted and killed brothers Cole and William Neer, ages 10 and 11, in Vancouver, Washington in autumn 1989. He then abducted and murdered 4-year-old Lee Iseli in Oregon.
He was arrested a few weeks later at a movie theater after he failed to abduct another boy, according to KNKX.
He quickly confessed to murdering the children and the prosecution sought the death penalty. He pleaded guilty and refused to appeal his case or sentence.
Dodd also specifically requested that he be executed by hanging. He was executed after three years on death row.
Carl Panzram
Last words: ‘Hurry it up, you Hoosier b*****d. I could kill 10 men while you’re fooling around.’
Carl Panzram, 39, was executed at Leavenworth Prison in Kansas on September 5, 1930 after becoming one of the most prolific serial killers of the 20th century.
Panzram, who is suspected of murdering over 100 men across the nation, was hanged after bludgeoning a prison employee to death in 1929.
Carl Panzram, 39, (pictured) was executed at Leavenworth Prison in Kansas on September 5, 1930 after becoming one of the most prolific serial killers of the 20th century. He admitted to killing 21 men and boys, though he is suspected of murdering over 100 men
Panzam was arrested for burglary in Baltimore in 1928 and later found guilty of killing three men just weeks earlier, according to The Grand Forks Herald. He was sentenced to 25-year-to-life.
While in prison, the serial killer documented his life story in a series of writings now known as the Panzram Papers.
The document opened famously with a confession of crimes, including the murders of 21 boys and men. Only five were able to be confirmed at the time.
‘In my lifetime I have murdered 21 human beings, I have committed thousands of burglaries, robberies, larcenies, arson and, last but not least, I have committed sodomy on more than 1,000 male human beings,’ he wrote in the papers.
‘For all these things I am not in the least bit sorry. I have no conscience so that does not worry me. I don’t believe in man, God, nor devil. I hate the whole damned human race including myself.’
His writings inspired the biography Killer: A Journal Of Murder and the 1996 film of the same name, starring James Woods as Panzram.
Thomas J. Grasso
Last words: ‘I did not get my Spaghetti-O’s, I got spaghetti. I want the press to know this.’
Thomas J. Grasso, 32, was put to death by lethal injection in Oklahoma in March 1995 for a double murder.
His last meal, as he said, was a can of Franco-American Spaghetti-O’s with meatballs, served at room temperature, steamed mussels, a Burger King double cheeseburger, a strawberry milkshake, pumpkin pie, and a mango.
Thomas J. Grasso, 32, (pictured) was put to death by lethal injection in Oklahoma in March 1995 for a double murder. His last meal, as he said, was a can of Franco-American Spaghetti-O’s with meatballs, served at room temperature, steamed mussels, a Burger King double cheeseburger, a strawberry milkshake, pumpkin pie, and a mango
Grasso strangled Hilda Johnson, 87, to death with her Christmas tree lights at her Tulsa, Oklahoma on December 24, 1990. He also stole some cash and her TV, The Daily Star reported.
Johnson lived next door to Grasso’s girlfriend’s grandmother, whom the pair had been visiting over the holiday.
He and his lover Lana – who later became his wife – moved to Stanton Island, New York, where he murdered Leslie Holtz, 81, on July 4, 1991 before stealing her Social Security check.
After being arrested for Holtz’s murder, Grasso also confessed to killing Johnson. He pleaded guilty to both crimes in 1992. He was sentenced to between 20 years and life for murdering Holtz and sentenced to death for strangling Johnson.
He requested his final meal before his execution on March 20, 1995 but there was allegedly a mistake and instead of Spaghetti-O’s, he was reportedly given spaghetti.
Robert Alton Harris
Last words: ‘You can be a king or a street sweeper, but everyone dances with the Grim Reaper.’
Robert Alton Harris, 39, was executed in a gas chamber in California’s San Quentin State Prison in April 1992.
Harris was sentenced to death after he and his younger brother abducted and killed two teenage boys in San Diego in 1978. The brothers then stole the victims’ car to carry out a robbery.
Robert Alton Harris, 39, (pictured) was executed in a gas chamber in California ‘s San Quentin State Prison in April 1992. Harris was sentenced to death after he and his younger brother abducted and killed two teenage boys in San Diego in 1978. The brothers then stole the victims’ car to carry out a robbery
Harris – who had previously been imprisoned twice for car theft – and his brother Daniel abducted and killed 16-year-olds John Mayeski and Michael Baker on July 5, 1978.
The brothers then stole their car to pull off a bank robbery, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation records state.
Harris was arrested less than an hour after the burglary and convicted in 1979 of two counts murder in the first degree with special circumstances, and kidnapping. He was later sentenced to death.
Daniel was convicted of kidnapping and sentenced to six years in state prison. He was discharged in 1983.
Harris’s execution in 1992 was the first execution in California in 25 years. He was put to death by gas chamber, which was never as popular as the electric chair in the United States but was used widely in Arizona, Wyoming, Missouri, Mississippi and California.
