Last Meal Project Details Condemned Prisoners’ Final Choice

NEW YORK

A man behind a website that starkly portrays death-row inmates’ final meal choices has drawn interest around the world, including in Singapore, where capital punishment is rigidly administered, and he aims to turn its contents into a book.

American Jonathon Kambouris’ interest in the macabre subject was piqued when he learned that US bomber Timothy McVeigh had chosen mint-chocolate ice-cream as his last meal before being executed.

McVeigh is featured in The Last Meals Project, where his menu choice, as with others who were subsequently put to death that appear on the website, is placed in picture form below his face.

The following is an interview The Hibernia Times conducted with Kambouris, a 29-year-old living in New York:

HT:  What is your personal view of the death penalty?

JK: My personal views on the death penalty are pretty irrelevant, because personal beliefs have been argued for both sides for a very long time with no progress. Regardless, if you are for or against the death penalty, the fact is that the death penalty is a process that does not work.

Consider the following:

Statistics from top academic criminological institutions “reject the notion that the death penalty acts as a deterrent to murder.” For example the 2009 FBI Uniform Crime Reports showed that in the USA, “The South had the highest murder rate. The South accounts for over 80 percent of executions. The Northeast, which has less than 1 percent of all executions, again had the lowest murder rate.”

It seems that in a lot of cases people committing violent crimes, or any crimes for that matter, are not thinking about the punishment.  Financially, especially during such a tough economic crisis, the death penalty eats away the taxpayers’ hard-earned money. Depending on the state, the cost could be any where from millions to hundreds of millions of dollars for each execution. Often the majority of these costs occur at the initial trial level, before the many years of appealing even begin.

There is a lot of research and statistics out there for anyone to see. It is important to understand that personal beliefs are influenced by assumptions and judgments that are not necessarily true.

Do you think that with condemned prisoners’ last meals, the choice in many cases is based on childhood memories?

Since this project is about the last meal, I included the meals that I thought were the most unique and interesting. For example, a jar of dill pickles is not what most people would consider as a very fulfilling last meal. I read an interview that a convicted killer chose his last meal from a nostalgic memory. I think there must be a very important reason one decides on their ultimate last choice. When someone is executed and his/her last meal is selected, that choice will be forever the most important meal for that individual.

That is what makes Last Meals such a fascinating topic, because the extreme importance of the last meal ritual is unarguably honest and true.

What’s the Singapore connection in terms of media coverage of The Last Meals Project?

The Singapore Fringe Festival invited the Last Meals Project to be a part of their Art and the Law show back in January 2010. This was the first major exposure for the Last Meals Project outside of the USA and I was very excited to be a part of this festival.

Singapore is a fantastic country, full of amazing food and amazingly diverse culture. But they have always had a very strict stance on the death penalty, especially concerning drug traffickers. For example, while filling out my customs form on the plane before I landed, it stated in bold red: “DRUG TRAFFICKERS WILL BE EXECUTED.”  I was very intimidated to say the least, as many rational people would be, but unfortunately many drug traffickers still attempt to transport drugs throughout these countries in the Far East because they don’t consider the consequences of their actions.

I did a number of interviews in Singapore on TV, websites, magazines and newspapers and I think the reason was because this is such a controversial topic that the people of Singapore debate just like we do here in the United States. It just goes to show that no matter where you are in the world the death penalty is a universally controversial subject.

What would be your last meal?

I have thought about this a lot and put myself in the shoes of a death-row inmate. I wondered if I really could eat. If I could I would have to say a pizza and coke or possibly a cheeseburger. I guess what ever I was craving at the moment.

In your website introduction, you ask how society is really served by the death penalty. How do you think it is?

Referring back to the first question, based on the fact of the process statistically not working as a deterrent and how financially it is not justifiable, it is enough to argue and dismantle the death penalty. But, also my personal opinion after educating myself on the statistics and research, I feel society is not served justice by the death penalty.

The majority of people who are on death row are poor. You are not seeing very many rich, highly educated people there. I think we can all agree that a rich person can commit murder — remember OJ Simpson. Not having the knowledge and money to generate the appropriate means of representation can get you executed even if you are innocent.

The Innocence Project has exonerated many people wrongly convicted and who were facing the death penalty. Sadly, there have been innocent people executed and this is not justice. Saving the life of one wrongly convicted, innocent person in my mind is much more important than killing a guilty life.

When is the book due out?

I plan on continuing and expanding on this project. I have more to say and I will continue to document this process. There has been a lot of interest from publishing companies but as of yet there is not a concrete deal. Regardless, I plan for this project to be published in a book form, whether it is with a publishing company or if I independently publish it myself.