For almost a year and a half now, YouTuber Josh Slavin has been cooking, eating, and ranking the last meals requested by prisoners on death row from across the globe and throughout history. He's currently created, consumed, and ranked over 80 meals, and continues to build his fascinating—and disturbing—database.
New York Post describes Slavin's process and one of the best meals he's recreated:
For each meal, Slavin first does research on the person, the crime and the food.
He then cooks the food, tastes it and ranks the dishes in tiers — with S being "the best" and D being "abysmal."
"The No. 1 meal that I made was that of Alton Coleman," Slavin said of the last meal choice of Coleman.
The serial killer chose to eat "filet mignon with mushroom gravy, biscuits and gravy, fried chicken, French fries, broccoli with cheese, collard greens, onion rings, corn bread, a salad, sweet potato pie, butter pecan ice cream and cherry cola" before he was executed by lethal injection in 2002, according to the Office of the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney in Indiana.
Slavin went on, "He had a large meal, but I thought that the meal was well coordinated. It synergized … It was a full southern meal."
Slavin continues his journey through the morbid meals, with no end—or lack of subject matter—in sight. Just today he uploaded the last meal of American serial killer Lloyd Gomez, dubbed "The Phantom Hobo Killer," who killed 9 victims across California in the early 1950s. His final meal consisted of fried chicken, fried potatoes, peas, a tomato and lettuce salad, toast, apple pie, and coffee. Slavin's take? He says, "In my opinion, this meal was super well-rounded, but it doesn't quite stand out as elite. I'm placing it this meal in A tier."
And earlier this week, Slavin tried the final meal of Englishwoman Mary Blandy, who killed her father in 1746 by poisoning him with arsenic. Her last meal consisted of mutton chops and apple pie. Slavin's verdict: "In my opinion, if I ranked these meals respective of time period, this would be S-tier, but I don't, so I'm placing this meal in B tier."
New York Post explains that while many find Slavin's series fascinating and informative, others find it in poor taste. However, that hasn't deterred him from continuing his journey:
Many people submit requests to him, asking if he can try the meals that had been eaten by specific criminals — while others appear to oppose his project and offer comments about the American justice system.
"Some people express their disgust about the conduct of the inmate or the actions of the convict because to be sentenced to death, you have [had] to commit some really reprehensible acts," Slavin said.
"There are also people that see the content and say it's something they don't want to see because it may glorify murderers. The subject matter is incredibly intense, and I think that could really charge people's emotions."
Slavin said that as he shares his content, he tries to keep his opinions out of it unless he's ranking the food.
"Not every story from our history is going to be sunshine and rainbows, but I don't think that's a reason to not share them," Slavin said.
"Death is something that comes to everyone, but there are so few situations where you know exactly when you are going to die, and choose exactly what you're going to eat before you die. So rarely do these hypotheticals translate into reality. This one just happens to be a reality of our history, and a reality of our present."
He added, "When you un-package it for what it is, it's really thought-provoking in my opinion. If my content is not for you, I am sorry, and feel free to keep scrolling."
As a fan of the true crime genre, I find Slavin's videos incredibly interesting, as well as informative, as he not only cooks and eats the final meal requests, but also provides facts about criminal justice systems around the world, historical and cultural information about last meal requests, and more.
On his Instagram you can find short videos covering individual meals, and on his YouTube, he's uploaded several compilations (one, two, three, four) of his meal commentaries, dating back to his very first video from September 2023. And if you want to see the meals Slavin deemed "S tier," here you go!
To learn more, follow Slavin on YouTube or Instagram.
Previously:
• The state of Oregon will not execute seventeen people on death row
