The last meal of a death row inmate is a final exercise in freedom, choice, and even life. A 'Metro' investigation reveals how the condemned choose this moment and its significance. For instance, John Wayne Gacy, convicted in 1986 for a double murder, ordered a mountain of food: a steak, fries, eggs, hash browns, toast, onion rings, pastries, ice cream, and a soda. Ricky Ray Rector, who killed a police officer in Arkansas in 1981, requested a steak, fried chicken, a cherry cola, and a pecan pie. Thomas Grasso, executed in Oklahoma in 1995 for killing two elderly women, ordered seafood, ribs, a burger, a pie, a milkshake, and spaghetti. Victor Feguer, convicted of kidnapping and murder in Iowa in 1963, asked for a single olive still containing its pit, hoping an olive tree would grow from his grave. Marvin Gay, who killed his father in 1978, requested scrambled eggs. Ruth Snyder, convicted in 1928 for murdering her husband, ordered chicken Parmesan, spaghetti, ice cream, and a large amount of grape juice. Ruth Ellis became the last woman to be executed in the UK in 1955 for shooting her lover. Her last meal was more of a fast-food carnival: pizza, a burger, piles of fried side dishes, a whole pie, and vast amounts of cola. Timothy McVeigh, convicted for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people, requested mint chocolate chip ice cream. Marvin Ward, who killed 33 young men between 1972 and 1978, did not eat his pie, telling guards he intended to save it 'for later'.
