Oldest man on death row had gut-busting last meal before dying in 'severe pain'

10 March 2024 , 07:00

814     0

Walter Leroy Moody died with 'no dignity' after finishing his last meal with his friends (Image: AFP/Getty Images)

Walter Moody did not eat breakfast, nor did he accept a final meal from the state on the day of his .

The 83-year-old maintained his innocence and was unable to give his final words before his gruelling near-half an hour long death. His attorney scorned that he died with “no dignity”. Moody, however, didn’t die hungry.

America’s oldest inmate was administered a lethal injection following the pipe bombing death of Federal Judge Robert Vance in 1989 at his Birmingham, Alabama home. His wife, Helen, was also left severely injured after Judge Vance opened the package.

READ MORE:

The walls of William C Holman Correctional Facility were the last things Moody saw (ABC)

Moody was convicted of his heinous crime in 1996 and spent more than two decades on death row. He was executed on April 19, 2018, at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama.

Man in 30s dies after being stabbed in park sparking police probe

On the day of his death, Moody forwent the traditional final meal, according to a spokesperson for Alabama Department of Corrections. Instead, the Georgia native looked North as he chowed down on not one, but two South Philadelphia specialities: the Philly cheesesteak, during a visit with friends and attorneys at the correctional facility.

Moody chomped down on note one, but two Philly cheesteaks as part of his last meal (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Composed of thinly sliced beef and melted cheese in a sub, each sandwich is a gut-busting 900 calories. To wash down the feast, Moody drank two Dr. Pepper sodas – 65 calories a pop. For dessert, he initially opted for a bag of M&Ms but allegedly swapped it for one of his attorney’s almond Hershey bars at 210 calories.

He ate his final meal with three friends and two lawyers by his side in the death row visitation yard. Moody had been given a drug "to knock him out" before his execution, his lawyer Spencer Hahn claimed.

However, he appeared to move after a consciousness check. His jaw allegedly sagged, chest moved and fingers fluttered after being administered the concoction of drugs to halt the heart. Moody would have likely experienced “severe pain,” Spencer added.

Moody's near-half an hour death was "disturbing", his attorney wrote (AFP via Getty Images)

Ten investigators and intelligence agents watched on — instead of the normal two to four — due to the high-profile nature of Moody’s murder. Two attorneys and a paralegal also witnessed the execution.

Spencer called the execution “disturbing”. He claimed Moody was sedated prior to being able to give his last words. “There was no dignity in that room. This dishonoured the memory of Judge Vance and Mr. Robinson,” Spencer said.

Walter Leroy Moody's latest mugshot (AFP/Getty Images)

Two days after the death of Judge Vance, another pipe bomb killed Georgia civil rights attorney Robert Robinson. By 1991, Moody faced 71 charges relating to the two murders. He was sentenced to seven concurrent life sentences and 400 years. The federal trial was conducted in Minnesota.

Moody tried to block his scheduled execution arguing the state had no right to carry out a death penalty while he was serving his federal sentence.

James Liddell