The convicted murderer's last prison dinner. Photoset No Seconds by Henry Hargreaves

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Feed and execute - such a protocol for enforcing the death penalty is well established in many countries where capital punishment has not yet been replaced by life imprisonment. Knowing that their life will soon be interrupted, all the more, knowing the exact date of the execution of the sentence, the criminals have the right to order into the cell last lunch in their life … Anything, in any form and in any quantity. Some convicts settle for simple meals like canned beans, McDonalds breakfast, or tea sandwiches, but there are also gourmets who want delicacies. A series of photographs titled " No Seconds"taken by an American photographer Henry Hargreaves, gives an opportunity to see what kind of meals some rapists, terrorists and serial killers order before execution. Among repeat offenders and maniacs, there are many who love tasty food, especially if before prison, in their "past life", they held the positions of chefs, administrators of coffee houses and restaurants, or they liked to delight friends and households with delicious homemade dishes of their own preparation. So, the rapist and murderer Wayne Gacy knows a lot about gourmet dishes, because he once ran three restaurants of the KFC chain, and ordered his last lunch there. And a very good lunch: strawberries, shrimps and fried chicken, cooked according to the restaurant chef's signature recipe. Sweet tooths are content with ice cream with chocolate chips, filled pies, and brutal meat eaters want huge steaks on a large platter.

From the general mass, criminals stand out who do not part with a sense of humor even a few hours before the execution. Rector convicted of double murder Ricky Rey, for example, refused an earlier ordered peanut pie, saying that he would leave it for later and eat it later. And Ronnie Lee Gardner was worried about not getting bored during the meal, and asked him to play Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy while he dines. In comparison with these characters, who were probably the ringleaders and merry fellows in the "past life", very gloomy and gloomy, but very appropriate to the atmosphere, other criminals sentenced to death seem to be. Orders that contain a single olive with a bone, or … an absolutely empty tray, make you think. What is this, the greatest degree of remorse, the whims of criminals, despair, or the results of long painful reflections on sleepless prison nights?

Other projects of this extraordinary author, Brooklyn-based photographer Henry Hargreaves, can be found on his website.