Credit: Texas Department Of Corrections
Death Row Inmate’s Chilling Final Request To Family Of Elderly Woman He Set On Fire
A killer on death row uttered a disturbing final request to the family of his victim.
Death row and capital punishment often divide opinions, with everything from weird last meal requests, final appeals for mercy, and controversial final words or hidden messages.
Unspeakable acts often end up with someone facing the death penalty, and many killers use their last words as a chance to express remorse or grief for their actions.
Not all take that chance, though, and instead cause more pain and trauma for the family and friends of the deceased.
Others just make odd remarks, or remain silent in protest at their death.
Convicted killer Matthew Lee Johnson made a statement that seemed like asking for forgiveness, but caused upset for the family of his victim.
His death took 26 minutes after he was given the lethal injection.
Johnson had spent exactly 13 years on death row after his horrific killing of Nancy Harris.
The murderer set Harris, who was 76, alight during a robbery.
He attacked Harris, who was working as a store clerk in Dallas in 2012, pouring lighter fluid over her head and demanding money.
After grabbing money from the register and removing a ring from Harris’ finger, he was seen on camera calmly setting her ablaze with a lighter, which he had also stolen.
He then slowly walked out of the store as Harris went up in flames, with the killer even stopping to steal some candy.
Police arrived and managed to put the flames out with a fire extinguisher.
The much-loved great-grandma suffered severe burns in the horrifying attack, and she bravely described her attacker before she died in the hospital days later, according to CBS News.
During his trial, Johnson claimed he was high on crack c**aine and branded himself ‘the lowest scum of the earth.’
His defense team claimed he had been abused as a child, which caused him to develop a drug addiction.
Johnson insisted he didn’t know what he was doing, as he was high at the time of the attack: “I hurt an innocent woman. I took a human being’s life. I was the cause of that.
“It was not my intention to – to kill her or to hurt her, but I did.”
Johnson asked his family and children to forgive him.
“I made wrong choices, I’ve made wrong decisions, and now I pay the consequences,” he concluded.
He also praised God and thanked him ‘for the life he has given me.’
Johnson turned to the victim’s family through the thick security glass and said: “As I look at each one of you, I can see her on that day.
“I please ask for your forgiveness. I never meant to hurt her.”
Johnson then made the bizarre plea: “I pray that she’s the first person I see when I open my eyes and I spend eternity with.”
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