Featured Image Credit: Bureau of Prisons/Getty Images
Topics: True crime, Death Row, Crime, US News
Callum Jones
Topics: True crime, Death Row, Crime, US News
The meaning behind serial killer John Wayne Gacy's final meal on death row is perhaps one of the most disturbing.
Gacy, born in 1942, built up a reputation in his community as a clown that would perform at charity events and children's parties.
His awful crimes came to light in 1978 after an unpleasant smell developed in his Chicago home. Gacy put the smell down to dampness, but it was in fact due to 29 bodies being dumped around the property over the years, which had began to decay.
Ultimately, Gacy was found guilty of 33 murders, including that of Robert Piest, who was reported missing by his family.
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Gacy was sentenced to death after his conviction and was placed on death row.
He was executed by lethal injection in 1994 and his last words certainly confirmed he felt no remorse for his awful crimes.
"Kiss my ass," Gacy reported told those in the room before he was killed.
For his final meal, Gacy requested a bucket of KFC's original chicken, french fries, fried shrimp, and a ton of strawberries.
Quite the mix for sure, though a litigation lawyer who represented Gacy explained the disturbing meaning behind it.
Karen Conti told The Mirror: "Well, I think it's super creepy, because, and this may be a fun fact you don't know, but when Gacy was incarcerated in Iowa, he had been manager of two KFCs.
"His father-in-law owned Kentucky Fried Chickens in the Iowa area there, and so he was managing, and that's where he actually abducted or, you know, did his crime against the boys for which he was incarcerated."
You may think the inclusion of strawberries is pretty bizarre in this scenario, with Conti explaining the reason why it was selected was due to her father.
The lawyer continued: "So for him...to have that as his last meal was super creepy, and there's a funny story about the strawberries, if you want to hear it. So my father, my father was a professional comedian. And, at the time, I represented Gacy."
Conti went on to explain to the outlet that she was caring for her ill father at the time and Gacy would ring up the residence and sometimes even speak with him.
Gacy's former representative added: I came home one day, and I'm here. I see my dad talking to him, and my dad said to him, 'What are you gonna have for your last meal?' And I could hear Gacy say like, 'Oh, I don't know'. My dad said, 'You should ask for fresh strawberries.
"And Gacy said, 'Why?' And my dad said, 'Because they're out of season'. So I don't know if life imitates art or what, but he wanted his fresh strawberries. Maybe he thought they were out of season, and he was going to get a stay. I don't know."