This death row killer decided to make his last meal one to remember by ordering a heart-clogging feast which would have been enough to feed a small family.

It is thought that Gary Carl Simmons Jr’s final blowout is the most decadent ever recorded in US history.

He was put to death at the Mississippi State Penitentiary on 20 June, 2012, after spending 15 years behind bars for murder.

The killer – nicknamed ‘The Butcher’ due to his modus operandi and his former profession – was given the ultimate punishment by a US court after he was convicted of kidnap, rape, and capital murder.

Simmons, 49, was sentenced to death in August 1997 for the slaying of 21-year-old Jeffrey Wolfe, which took place a year prior.

The young lad had driven from Houston to Mississippi with his girlfriend to collect a drug debt, according to records from the Mississippi Supreme Court.

But after the couple arrived at his home, Simmons and his accomplice, Timothy Milano, told Wolfe they didn’t have the money or any substances, the Daily Mail reports.

Wolfe was fatally shot with a .22-caliber rifle after an argument broke out, with Milano pulling the trigger.

His girlfriend was then tied up by Simmons, and the former supermarket butcher later raped her.

The killer savagely dismembered Wolfe’s corpse in a bathtub with knives which he had sharpened at work, according to the court documents.

Gary Carl Simmons Jr scoffed down nearly 30,000 calories before his execution (Mississippi Department of Corrections)

The 21-year-old’s remains were then callously dumped in an alligator-infested bayou. His girlfriend courageously escaped and alerted authorities.

Milano was sentenced to life in prison for the horrific crimes, while Simmons was slapped with the death sentence for the 1996 killing.

The ex-butcher said he had ‘made peace with God and was remorseful’ as his execution by lethal injection approached, according to Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps.

However, this didn’t stop Simmons from making a meal out of his final ever feast.

During his eating extravaganza, the killer gobbled down almost 30,000 calories – and for reference, the NHS recommend that blokes consume just 2,500kcal a day.

The banquet that Simmons tucked into behind bars involved several dishes and would have been enough to feed numerous people, according to reports.

Simmons is said to have started off by scoffing a Pizza Hut medium Super Supreme Deep Dish pizza, double portion, with mushrooms, onions, jalapeño peppers, and pepperoni.

This was followed up by another pizza, regular portion, with three cheeses, olives, bell pepper, tomato, garlic, and Italian sausage.

As well as putting the Pizza Hut employee through hell with that list of specifications, he probably put his stomach through a lot of anguish with the rest of his order.

The killer requested two pizzas laden with toppings as well as a host of other food (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Simmons also requested ten 8-oz. packs of Parmesan cheese, ten 8-oz. packs of ranch dressing, one family size pack of Doritos nacho cheese flavour, 8-oz. jalapeño nacho cheese, and 4-oz. sliced jalapeños.

As well as all this, he wanted a super-size order of McDonald’s fries with extra ketchup and mayonnaise, and two pints of strawberry ice cream.

To wash it all down, the inmate asked for two large strawberry shakes and two 20-oz. cherry Cokes.

Simmons obviously didn’t have to worry about his waistline while tucking into his final meal, so it seems he decided to go to town with it.

It isn’t clear if he managed to clean his plate or not – although officials said he had got about halfway through around 90 minutes before his execution.

The Department of Corrections claimed the 49-year-old had dabbled in everything but the fries and was still shoving food down by that point.

When strapped to the gurney, Simmons said: “I’ve been blessed to be loved by some good people, by some amazing people. I thank them for their support.

“Now, let’s get it on so these people can go home. That’s it.”

After uttering his last words, Simmons left this world with an extremely full belly at 6.16pm on 20 June, 2012.

Warning: This article contains discussion of domestic violence and suicide which some readers may find distressing

Ryan Wellings has been jailed for six-and-a-half-years after being found guilty of assault and coercive and controlling behaviour.

He was sentenced at Preston Crown Court this afternoon (16 January).

The 30-year-old received four years on count one of coercive behaviour and two years for count two, an incident where his partner, Kiena Dawes, was hit with a door. These sentences will run consecutively. For an offence of actual bodily harm (ABH) on his friend, he was given an additional six months.

Wellings was blamed for the 23-year-old’s death in her suicide note, calling him a ‘monster’.

Dawes left this note and the pair’s nine-month-old daughter with a friend before she took her own life on 22 July, 2022.

Kiena Dawes was described as the ‘sweetest, kindest and gentlest person’ (PA)

Wellings was initially charged with manslaughter before being cleared, making him the first defendant to face trial for the unlawful killing of his partner after her suicide following domestic violence.

He was cleared of that by the jury on Monday, following a six-week trial at Preston Crown Court. He was however convicted of assault and coercive and controlling behaviour over a two-year period.

After Wellings’ conviction, Angela Dawes described her daughter as the ‘sweetest, kindest and gentlest person’, adding: “I truly hope no other young lady or child has to go through what he did to my daughter and her baby and I just wish with all my heart that I could bring her back and say, it’s OK, you’re safe now.”

The court heard how the man threatened to throw acid in his partner’s face to ‘make her look like Katie Piper’ and to use a drill to take out her teeth. Prosecutor prosecutor Paul Greaney KC described him as an ‘entitled, aggressive bully’ who gave Dawes a black eye after she became pregnant and called her a ‘fat little b**ch’.

She had been diagnosed with an emotionally unstable personality disorder, resulting in increased impulsivity, poor self-esteem and difficulty in relationships, a condition allegedly exploited by the defendant.

Dawes had attempted to take her own life in the past, before her relationship with Wellings, and his lawyers told the court her suicide was due to ‘multiple factors’.

Ryan Wellings was convicted of assault and coercive and controlling behaviour over a two-year period (PA)

Greaney read her suicide note to jurors, including: “The end. I fought hard, I fought long. I went through pain no-one could imagine. I was murdered. Ryan Wellings killed me. He ruined every bit of strength I had left. I had dreams. I had a future at one point. That was taken away from me.”

In his sentencing remarks this afternoon, Judge Altham said: “The jury acquitted you of her manslaughter so I must sentence you on the basis you have no criminal responsibility for her death however, from May 2020 you abused demeaned and belittled her and by the time she died it was plain she believed your lies. None of it was true.

“Everyone who knew and cared for her regarded her as a truly wonderful person. We heard from family, friends and clients in the trial who spoke warmly of her.

“The overwhelming evidence is that you persuaded her that everything was her fault even when you beat her. You said you did everything you could to help with her mental health problems and never assaulted her.”

After receiving his sentence, Wellings reportedly smiled as he left the dock.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence to the national domestic violence helpline Refuge on 0808 2000 247, available 24/7, or via live chat, available 10am-10pm, Monday to Friday.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.

A woman who thought her blocked nose was a cold symptom ended up receiving a far more serious diagnosis.

In January of this year, Banbury woman Charlotte Rooney thought she had a winter cold as her nose was blocked, though she wasn’t experiencing any other symptoms.

After two or three weeks, the blocked feeling wasn’t going away by itself so she went to see a doctor, who gave her a nasal cream, and then shortly afterwards when she sought treatment again she was told the feeling was ‘nothing serious’.

Charlotte’s first sign was a blocked nose, which she initially thought was a symptom of a seasonal cold. (Just Giving)

In February, she developed a tingling sensation on the side of her face, which then progressed to a burning feeling, leading Charlotte to be diagnosed with chronic pain disorder trigeminal neuralgia.

This still didn’t explain the blocked nose, and in April, she went and got a private appointment where she was diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare form of cancer.

Charlotte was told that she ‘may only have months left to live’, and that her chance of being cured was ‘in the single percentages area’.

A further appointment told her that surgery might be an option, with the plan to surgically remove the tumour and then use proton beam therapy on the remaining cells.

However, her surgery had to be stopped due to excessive blood loss and surgeons made the decision not to proceed further, meaning Charlotte would have to undergo radiotherapy.

During this time, she set up a fundraiser to raise money for Oracle Cancer Trust, and to put on a festival to get more money for them, last month she successfully hit her goal of £10,000.

According to the Daily Mail, Charlotte described the day of the festival as ‘extremely emotional’ and even though she ‘struggled to swallow, eat and speak properly’ from the radiotherapy she was able to sing there.

A recent scan showed that much of her cancer was gone, but doctors ‘expect it to come back’ and she is still raising money to help others (Just Giving)

A couple of weeks later, she received some good news in the form of an MRI scan which couldn’t detect any cancer remaining, which the Banbury woman said was a ‘big shock’.

She told them: “They showed me a scan with a whole patch of grey, which previously had been all white with cancer, and now it is healing bone. It’s the best news I can have.

“It’s probable that there is still some cancer remaining, but it’s too small to be made out and is likely not growing.”

Charlotte’s future will involve fresh MRI scans every three months indefinitely, saying that doctors ‘do expect it to come back’ and that this type of cancer ‘regularly recurs’.

Charlotte is continuing to raise money for Oracle, as while her initial fundraiser wrapped up after having exceeded its £10,000 target, another one which has surpassed £5,000 is still open for donations here.

A photo sent by a teenager who went missing on a hike may contain clues as to what happened to him.

On 27 February, 2015, 18-year-old Daylenn Pua headed out for a hike up Hawaii’s popular Haʻikū Stairs, also known as the ‘stairway to heaven’.

He’d been visiting his grandma when he decided to go on the hike, but he’s never been seen since making the journey.

The stairs were constructed during the Second World War to provide access to a former communication station on Hawaii’s O’ahu Island.

It’s a total of 3,922 steps, and Daylenn was sending his grandmother pictures of his journey along the way, though she had warned him not to go.

However, the pictures stopped coming, and the 18-year-old has not been seen since.

The 18-year-old went missing in 2015. (Family Handout)

Significant search efforts were launched to try and find the teenager, or at least recover his body, but he’s not been discovered, and has been missing for over nine years now.

One of his pictures in particular aroused suspicion, as it contained a mysterious figure crouching.

This figure was dubbed the ‘shadow man’, though people don’t really know what it was. It looks like a figure crouching, but the exact identity isn’t clear.

This strange figure is in one of the last photos that Daylenn sent, so if it is a person, then they may have been the last person to see the teenager alive.

Of course, it may be entirely unconnected to his disappearance, and the 18-year-old might have suffered from the perils and pitfalls of going hiking alone on a dangerous trail.

This mystery figure was in one of the last photos he sent. (Crime Stoppers Honolulu)

In 2021, a decision was made to dismantle the stairs, and earlier this year, work started on taking them down.

Trying to access the Haʻikū Stairs now counts as trespassing and is illegal.

Members of the public did used to be allowed to climb the stairs, but they featured in an episode of Magnum P.I. which made them more popular and there were too many visitors.

A number of people have been arrested as a result of climbing the stairs, with CNN reporting that 14 people were arrested for it in the past couple of months.

With the steps being demolished, the climb is dangerous, and given the location, it’s a hard place for emergency services to reach.

Jason Redulla, chief of Hawaii’s Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement, said it was ‘incredibly disrespectful and self-centred’ for anyone to be trying to make it up the stairs.