A death row murderer admitted to making ‘mistakes’ before sharing a rather strange secret message before his execution.
Even if we don't admit it, we've probably at least all thought about what our last words might be; maybe a wholesome line from a poem, a quote from a movie or even a 'thank you, thank you very much'.
But not many of us plan to repeat the name of a vegetable, like this convicted murderer did.
Robert Charles Towery was executed by lethal injection in Arizona in March 2012, making him the 1285th murderer to be executed in the US since 1976.
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Towery was sentenced to death after strangling Mark Jones, 68, to death after robbing his home in 1991.
He and accomplice Randy Barker went to the 68-year-old’s home - who had previously loaned him money and hired him as a mechanic.
Towery pulled out a pistol as Barker handcuffed him, before taking valuables from the house.
The murderer then injected him with battery acid before strangling him to death with plastic ties.
Jones’ body was found the next day and the pair were caught when a security guard reported seeing them dumping the vehicle in a parking lot.
Barker got a plea deal for testifying against Towery and was released from jail in 2001.
Towery was aged 47 when he was executed and appeared to break down crying as he apologised for his choices, seemingly full of regret.
He said: “I would like to apologise to Mark's family and friends for what I did to them. I would like to apologise to my family.
"So many times in my life I went left when I should have gone right and I went right when I should have gone left. It was mistake after mistake."
And then came his final, bizarre, cryptic words that puzzled those present and the wider public when they were released.
His last words before the lethal injection were simply: “I love my family. Potato, potato, potato.”
It turns out the reference to the carb was a message to his nephew, who witnessed the execution.
The code words were a message for only him to understand and reportedly referred to the sound made by a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
Towery’s attorney, Dale Baich, said it was the murderer’s way of telling his nephew that ‘everything was OK’.
The carb actually featured in his ‘death row meal’ too.
Before the execution, Towery dined on a final meal of: Porterhouse steak, sautéed mushrooms, baked potato with butter and sour cream, steamed asparagus, clam chowder, Pepsi, milk and apple pie with vanilla ice cream.
Topics: Crime, True Crime, US News, Weird
Jess Battison