Death row killer's grim last meal demand that forced prisons to change the rules

Death row inmates have long been allowed to request their final meal on the night before their execution. But after one killer made an unusual and controversial demand, prison officials promptly ended the long-standing tradition.

Lawrence Russell Brewer, 44, was executed on 21 September 2011 for the murder of James Byrd Jr. The prisoner previously told the court he had "no regrets" for his role in the killing, and, in addition, caused an uproar before his death.

In tradition, Brewer was allowed to request his final meal before being executed. However, he ended up making history with his mammoth last meal request - and refused to eat the food for an unusual reason.

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Brewer's extensive menu request included a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger, a meat-lover's pizza, a cheese omelette with beef and vegetables, three fajitas, two chicken-fried steaks with gravy and onions, a large bowl of okra with ketchup, a pound of barbecue meat, half a loaf of bread, peanut butter fudge with crushed peanuts, a pint of ice cream and three root beers.

Despite preparing this mountain of food as per his request, Brewer declined to eat any of it, telling prison officials he simply wasn't hungry.

His actions following his extravagant food order were so outrageous that Texas prison officials have since suspended last meal requests for other inmates. Instead, lags are now served the same meals as regular prisoners, even for their last meal.

The decision was made within hours of Brewer's execution, and the changes were confirmed by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice within a few days.

American authorities at the time said Brewer's food request represented the final straw for the death row system. Senator John Whitmire instructed prison officials to abolish last meal requests, declaring, "Enough is enough."

He continued: "It is extremely inappropriate to give a person sentenced to death such a privilege. It's a privilege which the perpetrator did not provide to their victim."

The change to the last meals came two decades after James Edward Smith's bizarre final demand. Although his request wasn't as excessive, prison officials were sceptical and denied him his requested "lump of dirt".

More than a decade after the change in Texas, the public continue to debate the stringent restrictions now imposed on final meal requests. One person wrote on Reddit: "Well to be fair I wouldn't have much of an appetite if I knew my death was right around the corner."

Others suspected that Brewer requested the enormous quantity of food simply to wind up the prison guards. One remarked: "I really doubt he ordered all that food thinking he could eat it and then out of nowhere decided he wasn't hungry, he ordered too much planning to not eat it, to screw with them."