Ricky Ray Rector

In 1981, in Conway, Arkansas, a man named Ricky Ray Rector killed another man in a nightclub and later agreed to surrender to police. When Officer Robert Martin came to negotiate his surrender, Rector shot him in the back and then attempted suicide, leaving himself with severe brain damage that effectively lobotomized him.

Rector was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death, but his mental state led to intense debate over whether he understood his punishment. On the day of his 1992 execution, he famously left part of his last meal uneaten, saying it was for after the execution.

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