Terrifying 'gifts' death row psychologist received from inmates after interviewing hundreds
A death row psychologist who has a 'unique relationship' with the inmates he visits has described the 'terrifying' gifts he's been given by them, including some containing bodily fluids.
Bill Kimberlin has interviewed and sat down with hundreds of death row inmates. Through this, he describes himself as having a ‘unique’ relationship with them, with many even asking him to attend their executions.
However, those who are still waiting on death row, where the average time prisoners spend before being executed in America is 22 years, keep in touch with Kimberlin by sending him things in the post.
As expected, these aren’t the most normal gifts you can imagine, and are a far cry from flowers and chocolates.
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Speaking to UNILAD, Kimberlin says: "They send me everything from their artwork to their prison uniforms, you name it. I have thousands of pieces of art stored because I've never sold a single piece of anything that I've received. So I still have the very first letter I've received over 20 years ago."
Not all the paintings are wholesome however, Kimberlin reveals. "I have a lot of paintings made from human blood and semen. Yeah, it's just... You never know what to expect when you get packages from death row."
The weirdness doesn't stop there - as he goes on to tell us what else he's been gifted.
"Oh boy. You know, they send me their shoes, their socks, their uniforms. A little shrunken head made from dried fruit," he adds. Nice...
The gifts aren’t the only ‘terrifying’ thing Kimberlin has experienced on his years visiting. Despite him revealing that the inmates have ‘respect’ for him - he does recall one scary thing that was said to him by one felon - that left him ‘shaking’.
As he sat down for dinner with one inmate whose time was almost up, Kimberlin recalls him saying: "I've been thinking that if I killed one more person, if I killed somebody like today right now, then they can't execute me, right?”
"Because they have to take me to trial," the inmate added, which he said was going to 'take years'.
It was then when the psychologist began to sweat, realizing he was basically alone with the prisoner. He tells us that although there was a guard in the room with them, he wasn't in eyesight of the duo.
"I'm sweating bullets thinking 'Oh I my god. don't know what I'm going to do'," he says as he recalls the moment.
However, Kimberlin handled the moment like a pro, telling the inmate: "They're still going to put you to death, they're going to try and abstentiate you out of here and bring more embarrassment to your family, so that's definitely not something you want to entertain."
It's one that still sticks in his head to this day, as he tells us: "That one will always be on my mind."
On top of gifts, some inmates' final meals have also been pretty weird - here's a rundown of the most infamous.
Infamous death row meals
Victor Feguer
Feguer kidnapped and killed Dr Edward Bartels in July 1960. The doctor's body was later found in an Illinois cornfield with a single gunshot to the head.
Feguer was convicted of federal kidnapping and murder and executed by hanging at the Iowa State Penitentiary on 15 March, 1963.
For his final meal, the 27-year-old murderer requested a single olive with the pit in it. Feguer apparently told guards that he hoped an olive tree would grow from his grave, 'as a sign of peace'.
John Wayne Gacy
One of America’s most notorious serial killers, Gacy was convicted in 1980 after murdering at least 33 boys and young men in the 1970s.
The 52-year-old was executed by lethal injection at the Stateville Correctional Center in Illinois on 10 May, 1994.
Gacy opted for a bucket of KFC's original recipe chicken, French fries, 12 deep-fried shrimp, and a pound of strawberries for his last supper. In an eerie full-circle moment, it’s said that he previously managed several KFC restaurants owned by his father-in-law.
James Edward Smith
Smith was found guilty of fatally shooting Larry Don Rohus while he was robbing an office building in Houston, Texas, in 1983.
He was put to death by lethal injection at Texas’ Huntsville Unit on 26 June, 1990.
The inmate asked for a lump of rhaeakunda dirt for his final meal, as part of a voodoo ritual, which he both practised and believed in, as he hoped that it would assist his journey into reincarnation.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, his bizarre request was denied, and the 37-year-old was given plain yoghurt instead.
Timothy McVeigh
McVeigh was convicted of conspiracy, using a weapon of mass destruction, and destruction by explosives resulting in death for carrying out the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which killed 168 people.
On 11 June, 2001, he was executed for his crimes via lethal injection at the Federal Correctional Complex in Indiana.
McVeigh, 33, chowed down on two pints of mint chocolate chip ice cream for his final meal.
Lawrence Russell Brewer
Brewer was a white supremacist who, along with two other men, was convicted of murdering James Byrd Jr. in 1998.
Aged 44, he was executed by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit in Texas on 21 September, 2011.
For his last meal, the criminal infamously requested: two chicken fried steaks smothered in gravy with sliced onions; a triple bacon cheeseburger with fixings on the side; a cheese omelette with ground beef, tomatoes, onions, peppers and jalapeños; a large bowl of fried okra with ketchup; one pound of barbecue meat with half a loaf of white bread; three fajitas with all the trimmings; a Meat Lovers pizza; one pint of vanilla ice cream; a slab of peanut butter fudge; and three root beers.
However, when it arrived, Brewer refused to touch any of it - you can imagine how that went down. His actions ultimately led to the state abolishing the long-standing tradition.
Topics: Death Row, Psychology, True crime, US News
Kiesha Dosanjh