Inside the chilling last words of infamous death row inmates
The United States' death row has long been shrouded with fascination and controversy, with it being in the headlines this week over the highly anticipated execution of Christa Pike.
She was set to become the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in 200 years on Wednesday (30 September) before her execution was halted by a federal appeals court.
She was sentenced to death after the 1995 torture and murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, and judges are now reviewing whether her allegations of sexual abuse and rape as a child were fully considered prior to her sentencing.
It's still very likely Pike will be executed by lethal injection, which means she will be given the opportunity to deliver some final words.
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Here, we take a look at some of the most chilling final words of infamous death row inmates in their final moments.
Ted Bundy
Bundy was sentenced to death for assaulting and murdering dozens of young women and girls across several states during the 1970s.
After maintaining his innocence for more than a decade, Bundy officially confessed to 30 murders shortly before his execution, seemingly in a last-minute bid to buy more time.
On 25 January, 1989, the 42-year-old was executed by the electric chair at Florida State Prison.
Addressing his lawyer Jim Coleman and Methodist minister Fred Lawrence, who had spent Bundy’s final night with him praying, the serial killer said: “Jim and Fred, I’d like you to give my love to my family and friends.”
Aileen Wuornos
Wuornos was a sex worker who shot and killed seven men along Florida highways between 1989 and 1990.
Following a highly publicised trial, she was convicted of first-degree murder for six of the killings and executed at Florida State Prison on 9 October, 2002.
Before her death, Wuornos said: “I'd just like to say I'm sailing with the rock, and I'll be back like Independence Day, with Jesus June 6. Like the movie, big mother ship and all, I'll be back.”
John Spenkelink
Spenkelink was convicted of first-degree murder after killing his travelling companion, Joseph Szymankiewicz, in a Florida motel room on February 4, 1973.
Despite extensive failed appeals, he was executed via the electric chair at Florida State Prison on May 25, 1979.
At the age of 30, Spenkelink’s reported last words were: “Capital punishment - them without the capital get the punishment.”
William Bonin
Known as the ‘Freeway Killer’, Bonin raped, tortured, and murdered at least 21 boys and young men between 1979 and 1980, dumping their bodies alongside various highways in Southern California.
He was convicted of 14 murders and was executed by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison on 23 February, 1996.
When asked for his last words, Bonin, 49, told the warden: “That I feel the death penalty is not an answer to the problems at hand. That I feel it sends the wrong message to the youth of the country.
“Young people act as they see other people acting instead of as people tell them to act. And I would suggest that when a person has a thought of doing anything serious against the law, that before they did, that they should go to a quiet place and think about it seriously.”
Clarence Ray Allen
Allen was handed capital punishment in 1982 after ordering a triple murder while serving a life sentence for arranging the 1974 murder of Mary Sue Kitts, a potential witness against him in a burglary case.
At 76 years old, Allen was put to death via lethal injection at California’s San Quentin State Prison on 17 January, 2006.
“My last words will be, Hoka Hey, it's a good day to die. Thank you very much. I love you all. Goodbye,” his final statement read. It was the state’s last execution.
Emily Puckering