Thursday, July 20, 2006

VIRGINIA KILLER MEETS ELECTRIC CHAIR

Brandon Hedrick chose his method of death, as allowed by law in Virginia. He was electrocuted Thursday night for raping and murdering Lisa Alexander Crider in Lynchburg, Va.

Two jolts from the executioner and the 27-year-old man was dead, the first killer to be put to death by electrocution since 2004.

A Washington Post account notes:
He requested a last meal of pizza with cheese, bacon and hamburger, French fries with ketchup, apple pie, bacon, and chocolate cake.
He used his last words to talk about Jesus and said, "I'm ready to go and be free."

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

What's the fascination with last meals? Is it because we can all identify with the question -- what would you eat if it was your last meal? -- and so it's our way of connecting with the convicted person? Is it just sick voyeurism (as opposed to all the perfectly healthy and natural forms of voyeurism out there)?

The Texas prison system, which does a tidy business in executions, used to publish last meals on its website, but had to stop after complaints. See http://www.newsobserver.com/100/v-print/story/388886.html.

But there is nonetheless a market for that kind of information. See http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/02/18/print/main601033.shtml, for example.

Ron Davis said...

Best last eats page: Dead Man Eating.

Anonymous said...

Love the thongs.

I have to admit, it's fascinating to see how much cholesterol can be consumed at one sitting.

Me, a carton of cigarettes and a bottle of scotch (which they wouldn't allow, of course). To hell with food.

OK, maybe some really expensive chocolate.

Anonymous said...

In the case of electrocution, it's all fried foods anyway.

Anonymous said...

Back about 1983 when MO rescinded the death penalty and carried out an execution for the first time in 20 years, the News Leader did a three page spread on the condemned George "Tiny" Mercer. We had a detailed menu of all Tiny's favorite delicacies and a romance novel description of his blue eyes. Now 20 years later it's the same thing. How is the death penalty supposed to be a deterrent to murder when the media makes these people out to almost be folk heros? Then there were the theme parties that broke out after serial killer Ted Bundy was executed. Our twisted reaction to state executions speaks to why the death penalty is ultimately wrong.

Ronnie, why is my word verification epwacka??

Anonymous said...

If I'd ever wind up in a death-row situation, and I could choose MY means of demise... I'd choose being shot out of a cannon. At a brick wall. Twenty feet away. Or, thrown into a jet engine. Or a volcano. Something creative.

Anonymous said...

Actually I have a photo of that very thing, lib-guy. There is a HUGE cannon out side one of the museums in St. Petersburg. Jim Bohannon told me when he was there he learned the story of how the Polish Ambassador had pissed off Peter the Great. So Peter loaded his ass into that cannonand air expressed his ass most of the way back to Warsaw. I will try to find the photo. A bore of about three feet. And some of the original balls which look like they weigh a couple of tons each.

Anonymous said...

In fact, I guess you could say it was a very creative way of persona non gratia'ing his ass out of the country.