DEATH ROW: "I did not kill" Death row prisoners are permitted one last meal - but some of them also elect to say last words you might find haunting

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And they are chilling, heartbreaking and intriguing in equal measure.
The prison block for those sentenced to death is a place where hope is not in abundant supply.
As of October 1, 2015, there were 2,959 death row inmates in the United States - 2,905 men and 54 woman - although the figure fluctuates daily.



When it comes to last words, some prisoners elect to plead for clemency while others are stoic, resigned to their fate.

Lester Bower

Reuters

Last June, Lester Bower became the oldest death row inmate to be killed after spending more than 30 years in prison. The quadruple murderer - convicted of killing four men in 1983 at an aircraft hangar - told witnesses: “It’s time to move on,” shortly before his death by lethal injection.


In Nigeria, Four death row inmates were executed in 2013.  Nigeria had not carried out an execution since 2006.  However, shortly after President Goodluck Jonathan urged state governors to sign death warrants for death row prisoners on June 16, 2013,  four prisoners were executed. All four individuals reportedly still had appeals pending when executed, which is a violation of Nigerian and international law.

Laila Bint Abdul Muttalib Basim

 
The horrific death of Laila Bint Abdul Muttalib Basim last January was captured on camera when she was beheaded in Mecca.
As the sword fell three times in the holy city of Mecca, she screamed: "I did not kill. I did not kill," in response to the crime she had been convicted of.
There are two ways to behead people according to Mohammed al-Saeedi, a human rights activist: “One way is to inject the prisoner with painkillers to numb the pain and the other is without the painkiller,” “This woman was beheaded without painkillers – they wanted to make the pain more powerful for her.”

Humberto Leal Jr

Some others turn instead to God in their final moments.
Humberto Leal Jr, convicted of the rape and murder of a 16-year-old when he was 21 was put to death on July 7, 2011 when he was 38.
He appears to have taken his years in prison to find religion.

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Prison walls: May are imprisioned for 10s of years before they are finally put to death

"I am sorry for everything that I have done. I've hurt a lot of people... Lord Jesus Christ in my life, I know He has forgiven me, I have accepted His forgiveness.
"I have accepted everything. Let this be final and be done. I take the full blame for this. I am sorry and forgive me. I am truly sorry. I ask for forgiveness.
"Life goes on and it surely does. I am sorry for the victim's family for what I had did. May they forgive me. I don't know if you believe me, life goes on..."

James French

Some, oddly, have a moment of comedy come to them.
The last person executed under Oklahoma's death penalty laws in 1966 - before their suspension until 1976 - was James French.
Around 30 when he died, he had already spend eight years behind bars for killing a driver who picked him up hitchhiking - but once in jail he killed his cellmate to hasten his death by the state.
French's last words to journalists before his death by electric chair were: "How's this for your headline [tomorrow]? 'French Fries'."

 Floridian Aileen Wuornos

Her last words on October 9, 2002, following her final meal of "Kentucky Fried Chicken and french fries", were: "I'd just like to say I'm sailing with the Rock and I'll be back like Independence Day with Jesus, June 6, like the movie, big mothership and all.

The question is what if justice actually failed some of these people. Their words will continue to haunt the perpetrators no matter how they see it.
"I'll be back."