The details of serial killer John Wayne Gacy’s final meal have been described as carrying an especially unsettling significance.
Born in 1942, Gacy cultivated a friendly public image in his community, even performing as a clown at charity functions and children’s parties.
His crimes were exposed in 1978 after a foul odor began emanating from his home in Chicago. He reportedly blamed the stench on damp conditions, but investigators later discovered it was caused by decomposing remains — with 29 bodies found in and around the property, dumped there over time.
In the end, Gacy was convicted of killing 33 people, among them Robert Piest, whose disappearance had been reported by his family.
Following the verdict, he was sentenced to death and sent to death row. He was executed by lethal injection in 1994, and his final remarks were widely seen as showing no regret.
“Kiss my ass,” Gacy reported told those in the room before he was killed.
For his last meal, Gacy asked for a bucket of KFC original chicken along with french fries, fried shrimp, and a large amount of strawberries.
While the combination might sound random, an attorney who represented Gacy later suggested the order had a grim personal connection.
Karen Conti told The Mirror: “Well, I think it’s super creepy, because, and this may be a fun fact you don’t know, but when Gacy was incarcerated in Iowa, he had been manager of two KFCs.
“His father-in-law owned Kentucky Fried Chickens in the Iowa area there, and so he was managing, and that’s where he actually abducted or, you know, did his crime against the boys for which he was incarcerated.”
The strawberries, in particular, stood out — and Conti said their inclusion traced back to a suggestion from her father.
The lawyer continued: “So for him…to have that as his last meal was super creepy, and there’s a funny story about the strawberries, if you want to hear it. So my father, my father was a professional comedian. And, at the time, I represented Gacy.”
She explained that during that period she was also looking after her father as he battled illness, and Gacy would call the home — sometimes speaking with him directly.
Gacy’s former representative added: I came home one day, and I’m here. I see my dad talking to him, and my dad said to him, ‘What are you gonna have for your last meal?’ And I could hear Gacy say like, ‘Oh, I don’t know’. My dad said, ‘You should ask for fresh strawberries.
“And Gacy said, ‘Why?’ And my dad said, ‘Because they’re out of season’. So I don’t know if life imitates art or what, but he wanted his fresh strawberries. Maybe he thought they were out of season, and he was going to get a stay. I don’t know.”