THE MOST ELABORATE MEAL OF A DEATH ROW INMATE AND HIS CHILLING LAST WORDS

One of the "most elaborate" farewell meals in history was consumed by a death row inmate who claimed that "justice" had failed him during his execution. Steven Michael Woods Jr. was found guilty and given the death penalty in August 2002 for the May 2001 killings of Bethena Brosz, 19, and Ronald Whitehead, 21. Two men driving in Dallas found the two in a car off a golf course; Whitehead had been shot six times in the head and had four cuts on his neck. Brosz, meanwhile, had been shot twice in the head, once in the knee, and once on the throat. She was discovered alive but passed away the following day.

Police were tipped that Woods, who was 22 at the time of his sentencing, was involved in the killings, along with Marcus Rhodes. Although he was not arrested, Woods acknowledged that he had spent the night before Whitehead and Brosz's bodies were discovered with them. He was subsequently chastised after several witnesses said he had told them about his intention to carry out murders and that he subsequently told them about his involvement in the deaths of the victims. However, Woods insisted he was innocent, and NCB DFW claimed he blamed his friend Rhodes for the killings. During his trial, witnesses stated that he had killed Whitehead after luring him with the promise of a drug deal because he was aware of another murder in California that Woods had committed.

According to the prosecution, Brosz was killed because he saw Whitehead die. Woods was later found guilty by a jury of killing the two victims and given a lethal injection sentence. Rhodes, meanwhile, was given a life sentence after entering a guilty plea to capital murder. Both the US Supreme Court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied numerous appeals over the ensuing years. Before being put to death in the Huntsville Unit in 2011, the Michigan native, who was housed on Texas' state death row for men, placed his final, lavish meal order.

It began with four fried chicken breasts, a large four-meat pizza (bacon, sausage, pepperoni, and hamburger), and one kilogram of bacon. The order was then expanded to include five fried chicken steaks, fries, a dozen garlic bread sticks, two bacon hamburgers on french toast, and some marinara on the side. Woods also repeatedly ordered Pepsi, Mountain Dew, root beer, and sweet tea to wash down that glutenous feast. He indulged in a liter of ice cream for dessert. A final appeal for a stay of execution was denied by the US Supreme Court on the day of his death.

Woods insisted on his innocence in his last remarks before his execution. "What you are about to witness is a murder, not an execution. I have never, ever killed anyone. It's all wrong," he declared. "I never, ever killed anyone. Mom, you are loved. Tali, you are loved. This is incorrect. The entire situation is incorrect. It's unbelievable that you will allow Marcus Rhodes to roam freely. Justice has failed me.

Woods went on to say: “Well Warden, if you are going to murder someone, go ahead and do it. Pull the trigger! It's coming. I can feel it coming. Goodbye everyone, I love you,” as per the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Two hours after gorging on his last meal, Woods was executed via lethal injection on September 13 and pronounced dead at 6.22 pm.

His execution was the tenth carried out in Texas in 2011.