Warning: This article contains discussion of rape and murder which some readers may find distressing.

A death row inmate executed earlier this month was denied a last meal because of another prisoner’s behavior.

Texas death row inmate Arthur Lee Burton received the death sentence for strangling a woman to death with her own shoelaces.

On July 29, 1997, 48-year-old Nancy Adleman was jogging in Houston, Texas, when she was attacked by Burton.

Burton proceeded to ‘force’ her into a wooded area nearby and ‘attempted to rape her,’ Texas Department of Criminal Justice states. The then-27-year-old strangled the mom-of-three with her own shoelace and fled.

He later confessed to the killing according to CBS News, saying: “She asked me why was I doing it and that I didn’t have to do it.”

However, the Independent reports he later went back on his confession during his trial.

Burton was ultimately convicted of Nancy’s murder in 1998 and sentenced to death.

He spent the next 26 years on Texas death row and despite his lawyers claiming he had an intellectual disability – the Supreme Court banning the execution of intellectually disabled people in 2002 – the appeal was rejected by the US Supreme Court and Burton was executed at the age of 54 earlier this month on August 7.

Despite it being known that many death row inmates are able to request a final meal before being executed, Burton wasn’t allowed to and it was all because of an inmate who came before him.

Arthur Lee Burton was executed earlier this month (Texas Department of Criminal Justice)

Up until 2011, death row inmates in Texas were allowed to request a final meal before being executed.

However, in that year, Lawrence Russell Brewer – a white supremacist who was one of three people who lynched James Byrd Jr – requested a more than extravagant final meal before his date with the lethal injection.

Brewer didn’t hold back in his demands for his final meal, asking for two chicken-fried steaks with sliced onions and gravy, a triple-patty bacon cheeseburger, alongside a cheese omelet with some added ground beef, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers oh and jalapeños of course.

And if that wasn’t enough already, The New York Times reports he also asked for three fajitas, a bowl of fried okra and ketchup, a pound of barbecued meat with half a loaf of white bread and a meaty pizza.

If you thought that was it, think again, because who could forget dessert? Brewer demanding peanut-butter fudge and a pint of ice cream with three root beers to wash it all down.

The real question is, how did he even begin to eat it all?

Lawrence Russell Brewer’s final meal request and conduct led to it being cancelled for all Texas death row inmates (Buck Kelly/Getty Images)

Well, when it was served up to him, he reportedly didn’t touch a single morsel.

State Senator and chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee John Whitmire was left outraged, questioning: “He never gave his victim an opportunity for a last meal. Why in the world are you going to treat him like a celebrity two hours before you execute him?

“It’s wrong to treat a vicious murderer in this fashion. Let him eat the same meal on the chow line as the others.”

The fact Brewer didn’t even touch the meal added even more salt to the wound and so it was resolved from then on, no Texas death row inmate would be offered the option to request a final meal again.

Warning: this article discusses Sexual Assault.

Wesley Ira Purkey died by lethal injection after being placed on death row and an expert has insisted the drug used would have caused excruciating pain.

Wesley Ira Purkey was placed on death row in 2004 following the kidnapping, raping and murder of a 16-year-old girl in 1998.

The victim, Jennifer Long, was last seen at East High School in Kansas City, Missouri, on January 22 and concerns were raised when she did not attend her lessons.

She had been lured into Purkey’s car before he took her back to his home. He had reportedly stabbed her to death, dismembered her body with a chainsaw, burned her body in a fireplace and placed her remains in a septic pond in Clearwater, Kansas. Her remains have never been found to this day.

Kansas Dept. of Corrections

Following this, Purkey killed an 80-year-old woman, Mary Bales, by beating her with a claw hammer. Thankfully he was arrested after neighbors saw him attempting to burn her body.

When he was executed in 2020, Purkey was 68 years old and suffering from dementia.

Due to suffering from the disease, it is not clear whether he understood what was going to happen to due to how he treated his final meal.

He had requested pecan pie as his last meal but asked to save it for later, seemingly unaware there would not be a later for him.

When it came to his execution, Dr Gail Van Norman, a medical expert has said Purkey likely experienced an ‘excruciating’ death rather than the intended painless death.

The autopsy of Purkey revealed that he had suffered ‘severe bilateral acute pulmonary oedema’ and ‘frothy pulmonary oedema in trachea and main stem bronchi’, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Van Norman said this would cause a near drowning experience that would likely be ‘among the most excruciating feelings known to man’, and the filling of Purkey’s lungs could only have happened while he was still alive.

Kansas Dept. of Corrections

He added: “It is a virtual medical certainty, that most, if not all, prisoners will experience excruciating suffering, including sensations of drowning and suffocation from [the lethal injection drug] pentobarbital.”

Ahead of his execution, Purkey appeared to show remorse for his actions.

His final words were reportedly: “I deeply regret the pain and suffering I caused to Jennifer’s family. I am deeply sorry. I deeply regret the pain I caused to my daughter, who I love so very much. This sanitized murder really does not serve no purpose whatsoever.”

William Long, the 16-year-old’s father, had said Purkey needed to take his last breath for taking the life of his daughter, following the execution.

Content warning: This article discusses sexual assault.

A man who murdered his wife later revealed he’d also killed someone else.

In 2010, David Neal Cox was convicted of murdering Kim Kirk Cox, and sexually assaulting his 12-year-old step-daughter.

He was sentenced to death for his crimes and was executed by lethal injection in November 2021 at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.

He’d ditched all appeals prior to his passing and deemed himself ‘worthy of death’, with his execution marking the first one in the state for nine years.

In the days leading up to Cox’s execution, he revealed to his attorney that he had also murdered his brother’s wife, Felicia Cox. She’d been missing since 2007.

Waiving his attorney-client privilege after death, Cox gave his lawyer detailed instructions to pass onto the authorities on where they could locate Felicia’s body.

A letter written by Cox sharing such details was hand-delivered by the Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel (CPCC) two days after he was executed. Cox was executed in December 2021.

According to the CPCC, Cox ‘felt deep remorse and wanted to bring closure to [Felicia’s] family’.

Mississippi Department of Corrections/WTVA 9 News

The District Attorney’s Office went on to say that locating the missing mother’s body was ‘not a foregone conclusion’.

“We are hopeful the information is accurate and that recovery efforts will be successful so that Felicia’s family may give her a proper burial,” it went on.

Then, in December 2021, a body believed to be Felicia’s was discovered on land that had once belonged to her family in Pontotoc County, CBS News reported at the time.

First Circuit District Attorney’s Office – John Weddle/Facebook

John Weddle, the district attorney for several northern Mississippi counties, penned in a Facebook post: “Our office is greatly indebted to many as we reflect on the discovery of what appears to be the remains of Felicia Cox today in Pontotoc County. The final identity will need to be confirmed by DNA testing which will hopefully be performed soon.

“We are thankful the family can now begin the process of giving Felicia Cox a burial.”

Shortly after, Weddle confirmed that a DNA match was found between the body and Felicia’s daughter, Amber Miskelly.

First Circuit District Attorney’s Office – John Weddle/Facebook

Miskelly had penned a letter to Cox before his execution in the hopes of getting answers about her mom.

He had long been a suspect in the case of Felicia’s disappearance, but continuously failed to cooperate with police.

According to Miskelly, Cox was the last person to have seen her mother alive prior to her disappearance in July 2007.

In regards to wanting to find Felicia, Miskelly said that giving her a proper burial meant ‘everything to [her]’.

In light of Cox’s confession, Miskelly got what she wanted and her mother was properly laid to rest on December 30, 2021.

Warning: This article contains discussion of rape which some readers may find distressing.

More than two decades on from raping and murdering an 18-year-old girl, a death row prisoner has finally been executed.

In 2001, Ramiro Gonzales murdered Bridget Townsend, of Bandera – a small town in Texas, after bumping into her at her boyfriend’s home which he visited with the intention of robbing.

Bridget Townsend was just 18 years old when she was raped and murdered by Ramiro Gonzales. (Change.org/David Townsend)

While cash did go missing, so too did Bridget – who vanished for two years before cops understood what had happened to her, and where she was disposed of.

It came out as Gonzales was handed to two life sentences after he was convicted of raping and kidnapping an estate agent, also from Bandera, when he asked to speak to the Sheriff.

He explained that he had raped Bridget before taking her to a ranch in neighboring Medina County where he drove to a remote hillside and dumped her body.

When raiding Bridget’s boyfriend’s home in search of drugs, Gonzales was unable to find any, instead he reportedly made off with cash and Bridget – who he caught attempting to use the phone.

He then tied her up and threw her in the back of his truck, stopping at his granddad’s on the way to collect a rifle.

Gonzales would then drive to the ranch, rape and shoot her.

He was later found guilty and charged with capital murder and given the death penalty, and placed on death row.

Murdering rapist Ramiro Gonzales was executed on Wednesday. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice)

But it was yesterday (27 June) during Gonzales apologetic final words to Bridget’s family, on what would of been her 41st birthday, that will have sent chills down their spine – ‘warden I’m ready’.

Addressing Bridget’s mom, dad and family, he said: “Patricia, I’m sorry. David, I’m sorry. To all your family I’m sorry. I just want you to know I love you guys and I lived the best that I could to give it all back.

“To my family, my friends, thank you for all the support every decision I made everything I said in this penal system was based on how it will reflect on you guys. And Bridget, I lived my life for you guys.

“I love all ya’ll. To the administration, waders Dickerson, Hazelwood, thank you for being so courageous for making decisions to make this penal system better. You guys are also my goal. It’s why I’ve been better.

“Giving me the responsibility and the opportunity to become responsible to learn accountability and to make good.”

In his final breath, he said: “Continue to fight the fight especially in your faith. God Bless you all. Warden I’m ready.”

Gonzales was executed via a lethal injection at the seventh time of asking, after his execution was delayed six times previously.

If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org