What Did The World's Most Notorious Criminals Request For Their Last Meals?

In our minds, the story of notorious criminals usually ends when they finally end up behind bars, but just like most criminals on death row, they're also granted a last meal. What they chose says a lot about them, and adds a personal and (somewhat) humanizing element to the equation. So read on to learn what some of the world's most notorious criminals ate for their final meal. 

This notorious serial killer, who confessed to 30 murders but may have committed even more, declined a special meal before his 1989 execution, so he was given the meal that the Florida prison he was incarcerated in typically gave to others on death row: medium-rare steak, eggs over easy, toast with butter and jelly, hash browns, milk, coffee, and juice. He didn't eat any of it. 

Before this Nazi senior officer was executed in Israel in 1962, his final request was a bottle of Carmel, an Israeli red wine. He drank about half of the bottle. 

This serial killer, who murdered at least 33 young men, requested a dozen fried shrimp, a bucket of KFC original recipe fried chicken, French fries, and a pound of strawberries before his execution in 1980. 

Back in 1939, the convicted kidnapper and murderer of aviation ace Charles Lindbergh's baby, Bruno Richard Hauptmann, ate a final meal of chicken, French fries, buttered peas, celery, olives, cherries, and a slice of cake. 

Known as "The Vampire of Düsseldorf" Peter Kürten was convicted of committing a series of sexual assaults and murders around that German city in 1929. Before his execution in 1931, he requested Wienerschnitzel, fried potatoes, and a bottle of white wine. He requested seconds, and was given them. 

The mastermind of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing requested two pints of mint chocolate chip ice cream for his final meal before his 2001 execution. 

The Beltway Sniper who terrorized the D.C. area in 2002 was executed in 2009 after requesting a final meal of chicken with red sauce and cake. 

The serial killer known as the Gainesville Ripper. sentenced to death for murdering eight people, was executed in 2006. His final meal was lobster tail, butterfly shrimp, baked potato, strawberry cheesecake, and sweet tea. 

A photo of the electric-chair execution of husband-killer Ruth Snyder at New York's Sing Sing in 1928 was splashed over one of the most famous newspaper front pages of all time. For her final meal, she requested chicken parmesan with pasta Alfredo, ice cream, two milkshakes, and a 12-pack of grape soda. 

Karla Faye Tucker, sentenced to death for murdering two people in cold blood before becoming the subject of an international movement advocating commutation of the sentence, was the first woman executed in the U.S. in 14 years when she was given a lethal injection in 1998. For her final meal, she famously requested a banana, a peach, and a garden salad with ranch dressing. 

Convicted of the murders of seven men in Florida in 1989 and 1990, Wuornos was sentenced to death and executed in 2002. She declined a special meal, and instead had a hamburger, some snack food, and coffee from the prison's canteen.