Death: Beaten to death by a fellow inmate on November 28, 1994
Last Words:
“I don’t care if I live or die. Go ahead and kill me.”
Jeffrey Dahmer developed a fascination with animals during early ages and would store their parts and carcasses. His parents thought their son’s curiosity was merely scientific during that time. Dahmer’s first victim was a hitchhiker whom he brought home for drinks. A few hours later he bludgeoned hitchhiker to death because he wanted to leave. Upon his father’s urging he joined the army and reportedly raped a soldier he was stationed with over a period of 17 months. After his service, he continued his offenses which included necrophilia, cannibalism and skeletal and body part preservation. He was arrested when his intended victim punched him and ran to the police.(source)
Crime: Responsible for the 1886 Haymarket bombing in Chicago.
Death: Hanged on November 11, 1887
Last Words:
“Hurrah for anarchy! This is the happiest moment of my life.”
George Engel was one of the three children of a very poor family and was forced to start working at the age from the age of 14. He soon became influenced by socialism and took part in forming the Socialistic Labor Party of North America, later also joining International Working People’s Association. He was part of what was called “Monday Night Conspiracy” to shoot the police or use dynamites on the stations if the strikers were attacked by them. Engel was arrested and sentenced to death along with three others.(source)
Gary Gilmore was one of the four sons of an abusive and tyrannical father. He was a bright student with an IQ of 133 and artistic talent, but dropped out of school and ran away from home when he was an adolescent. When he was 14, he was arrested for car thefts and sent to a reform school in Oregon. He was repeatedly arrested for armed robberies and assaults, but was permitted to study art at community college. After his release, he kept committing the similar crimes, finally killing two people in a gas station robbery. His last words “Let’s do it!” were an inspiration for Nike’s slogan, “Just do it.”(source)
“Who was the fool, who the wise man, who the beggar or the Emperor? Whether rich or poor, all are equal in death.”
Robert Harris was one of nine children born to alcoholic parents and was abused as a child. He was detained as juvenile when he was 13 for stealing and was abandoned by his mother when he was 14. He was arrested for manslaughter as an adult and again for killing two 16-year-old boys. He was found and arrested within an hour and charged with various crimes, including bank robbery.(source)
Robert Charles Comer, along with his girlfriend, invited a man who was camping close to their camping site. He killed the man robbing his possessions and taking his Emergency Medical Technician badge which he used to threaten a couple in another camp nearby. They tied the couple and Comer raped the woman twice. She later escaped them sought help from a motorist on the road. After he was arrested and on death row, Comer withdrew his appeals so that he could be executed stating “death is not that bad.”(1, 2)
