Before death finally and deservingly took their lives, these infamous serial killers were given one final moment to utter their last words. Most were taunting and unapologetic; some went for the classic unfelt lines, while a few kept it short because they just couldn’t be bothered.
Note: The article contains case details that may be disturbing to people. Scroll at your own risk.
Ted Bundy
“I’d like you to give my love to my family and friends.”
Date of Execution: January 4, 1989
Death by: Electric Chair
Theodore Robert “Ted” Bundy is one of the most prolific serial killers in America’s history, with an unknown total of kidnapping, rape, and murder counts. Though, by the end of his time, he confessed to 30 homicides between 1974 and 1978, spanning seven states.
His main ruse was approaching females in public, sometimes employing a physical impairment like an injury to ask for assistance or pretending to be an authority figure, and then luring them into a vehicle parked in a secluded area.
He would then beat them unconscious, restrain them with handcuffs, and transport them to a secondary location where he would sexually assault and ultimately kill them by strangulation or bludgeoning. He often revisited the bodies of his kills and did atrocious things with them.
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Biographer Ann Rule described him as a “sadistic sociopath” who derived pleasure from other’s pain and the control he had over them from life until death. Bundy even referred to himself as “the most cold-hearted son of a b*tch you’ll ever meet.”
After his apprehension, he was able to engineer two dramatic escapes and even went on to commit assault. He was convicted for the murder of two Florida State University sorority sisters and a 12-year-old girl – which all happened after he escaped from jail. He was ultimately sentenced to two death penalties and executed in Florida’s electric chair on January 24, 1989.
Before taking his last breath, he made his confession and said the words, “I’d like to give my love to family and friends.” And this was definitely so creepy to the point of goosebumps, considering the nature of his kills. But hey, it’s Bundy.
John Wayne Gacy
“Kiss my ass.”
Date of Execution: May 10, 1994
Death by: Lethal injection
John Wayne Gacy, more popularly known as “Killer Clown,” joins Bundy in the list of the most prolific serial killers in US history. In his over a decade of being active, he had racked up 33 murders.
The way Gacy did all of those was by luring his victims (young men and boys whom he hunted in Norwood Park Township near Chicago, Illinois) into his ranch house and then making them wear handcuffs under the guise that he was going to show them a magic trick.
After that, he would rape them, and torture them, before killing them through asphyxiation or strangulation. He then buried more than two dozen of them in the crawlspace below his home.
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The majority of his kills happened after his ex-wife, Carole Hoff, divorced him in 1976.
He was arrested in ‘78, convicted for all thirty-three murders, and sentenced to death. He sat on death row for 15 years before he met his demise on the lethal injection table on May 10, 1994, at Stateville Correctional Center.
Even in his death, he was so angry that he couldn’t be bothered by any “great” last words. So he chose, “Kiss my ass.” Simply put.
Jeffrey Dahmer
“I don’t care if I live or die. Go ahead and kill me.”
Date of Execution: November 28, 1994
Death by: The hands of a fellow inmate
Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer, dubbed “The Milwaukee Cannibal,” is yet another member of the prolific serial killer club along with Bundy and Gacy. In fact, his gruesome life of crime made it onto our TV screens with Evan Peters portraying him in DAHMER – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. The actor even had to watch “Step Brothers” to decompress after filming it.
So, here’s the gist of Dahmer’s crimes: He not only killed 17 males in his entire killing period from 1978 to 1991 but also dismembered all of them. When he was done, he did a lot more other things to the body parts, including preservation, necrophilia, and cannibalism (hence, his name).
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He was diagnosed with a string of mental disorders – borderline personality disorder (BPD), schizotypal personality disorder (SPD), and psychotic disorder – but he was found legally sane during his trial.
Unlike the first two listed here, he didn’t get the death sentence. Instead, he had to serve for life without the possibility of parole.
On November 28, 1994, Dahmer was brutally beaten to death by a fellow inmate at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin, by the name of Christopher Scarver. The two were cleaning the shower in the facility’s gymnasium when Scarver attacked him with a metal bar. Before he died, this was what he had to say: “I don’t care if I live or die. Go ahead and kill me.”
No one’s scarier than someone who had a full-fledged killing career and had no fear of dying.
Aileen Wuornos
“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 mother ship and all. I’ll be back.”
Date of Execution: October 9, 2002
Death by: Lethal injection
Aileen Carol Wuornos may not have been a common name to pop out in true crime (unlike Bundy or Dahmer), but she was definitely a notorious one. If you happened to watch the 2003 film “Monster,” it was actually her story. Actress Charlize Theron played her and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for that performance.
Wuornos earned her death penalty after she robbed and shot seven of her male clients (she was a street prostitute) from 1989 to 1990. But according to her, these were all committed in self-defense as they all either raped her or attempted to rape her. She spent ten years on death row before she finally made it to the table on October 9, 2002.
She made quite a statement with her last words, saying, “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 mother ship and all.” Then she concluded with an “I’ll be back.”
So, that’s a wrap for serial killers and their last words.
