The Last Meal: Defending an Accused Mass Murderer

It took almost ten years for investigators to arrest two men for the brutal murders of seven workers at a fast food restaurant in suburban Chicago. The tragic events captured headlines throughout the nation for weeks. When the arrests finally were made, the evidence against one of the alleged killers was virtually irrefutable. His DNA was on chicken bones recovered from a trash bin at Brown's Chicken and Pasta; investigators contended that he ate pieces of chicken before shooting the victims-the so-called ?last meal.? His partial palm print was on a soiled paper napkin inside a trash bin. He confessed on videotape, describing how he ?got caught up in the moment? as he slit the throat of one victim. And he bragged about his role in the crime to two young women.

If ever someone deserved a death sentence, the Brown's Chicken killer certainly would qualify.

The Last Meal is the story of a horrific crime. It is also the riveting account of how a team of defense attorneys fought to show how their client did not commit the killings, and what happened if that failed to save him from a sentence of death.