A death row inmate ate salami for his last meal and spoke to God before being executed for killing an eight-year-old girl.
Frank Atwood, 66, was convicted for the murder of Vicki Lynne Hoskinson who disappeared while cycling to post a birthday card to her aunt in Tucson, Arizona USA.
Her body was found in the Arizona desert seven months later.
Atwood's sat down for his final meal and uttered his last words before being put to death on Wednesday.
His last supper included peanut butter and jelly, salami, mustard, wheat bread and tortilla chips washed down with either water or a juice packet.
The disabled inmate's bizarre request came after he initially refused a final meal, saying he was "fasting."
Atwood was killed by lethal injection in the state’s second execution this year following an eight-year hiatus.
Witnesses said he spoke to God and prayed for mercy in his final moments, reports FOX10.
He thanked the priest "for coming today and shepherding me into the faith", adding "I pray the Lord will have mercy on all of us and that the Lord will have mercy on me."
The execution began at 10.04am and Atwood was pronounced dead 12 minutes later, according to prison officials.
They claimed that he "seemed to accept his fate" and "did not apologise in his last words" before IVs were injected into both his arms.
Friends and neighbours of the Hoskinson family showed their support outside the prison to remember Vicki Lynne.
“I feel like it will be a part of a closure for my childhood,” Stacy Davis, a childhood friend of Vicki Lynne, told AZ Central.
Atwood had defended his innocence and his lawyers made multiple failed attempts to halt his execution.
US District Judge Michael Liburdi decided to go ahead with the execution despite Atwood insisting that the state's death penalty procedures would violate his constitutional rights.
He put this down to the cruel and unusual punishment and unimaginable pain he would be forced to endure.
Atwood was left in a wheelchair due to a degenerative spinal condition.
His lawyers said that he would undergo excruciating suffering if he were strapped to a gurney while lying on his back during his lethal injection execution.
Friends and neighbours of the Hoskinson family showed their support outside the prison to remember Vicki Lynne.
Childhood friend Stacy David told AZ Central: “I feel like it will be a part of a closure for my childhood."
