Death row inmate who terrified prison staff had last meal denied for being 'too weird'

Death Row final meals are one of the most captivating elements of understanding a killer’s psyche, so you’re probably going to be left wondering why James Edward Smith chose a specific item to dine on that you wouldn’t find on any menu.

If you don't know who Smith was, then be thankful.

This man was a 37-year-old murderer, who had been sentenced to death after killing a life insurance company's district manager in an armed robbery.

The former taxi driver was promptly thrown into the Texas State Penitentiary Unit, where he would be executed on June 26, 1990 for his crimes.

But what the prison staff might not have known is that Smith used to be a tarot-card dealer in New Orleans, a city that’s known for its ties to voodoo and West African spirituality and practices brought in by the 18th century slave trade.

Then, of course – there was Marie Laveau, a renowned practitioner of voodoo.

Anyway, Smith was big into his own practices and allegedly performed rituals right up until his death.

James Edward Smith asked for an unusual last meal (Texas Department of Criminal Justice)

But for his ultimate ritual, he wanted this to occur during his execution, and to do so, he needed to eat something specific.

Long before inmates had their last meal choices prohibited, Smith had requested rhaeakunda dirt, which is believed to be consumed in voodoo rituals for those who wish to be reincarnated.

That’s because the dirt is historically associated with the afterlife when it comes to these practices.

However, Texas prison officials denied his request as they stated that dirt isn’t on the menu.

Per the Fort Worth Star-Telegram at the time, prison spokesperson David Nunnelee said: “It’s not food, it’s not sanitary.”

He added to the paper: “He’ll be offered something off the regular prison menu.”

So, Smith indeed was given something from the menu – yogurt to be exact.

He wanted dirt (Getty Stock Images)

According to the newspaper, Smith had explained that he wasn’t ‘crazy’, and instead said he’s just determined, despite his mother successfully petitioning to schedule his execution two years later after claiming her son was mentally incompetent.

However, when the day once again came around, Smith reportedly wanted to get things going as soon as possible, and when he learned he wouldn’t be eating from the Earth, told prison officials he would haunt the location for 300 years, per The Mirror.

Well, that’s just lovely.