Last words of death row inmate who set couple on fire

The final words of an inmate who was sentenced to death for setting a couple on fire have been revealed after his execution.

Leroy Dean McGill, 63, was executed in Arizona on Wednesday after receiving a death sentence for throwing gasoline on a man and his girlfriend before setting them on fire.

McGill had fatally immolated Charles Perez and severely burned Perez's girlfriend in the attack, which took place in an apartment in North Phoenix in July 2002.

Before his execution, McGill was given a last meal of onion rings, bread and butter, chocolate cake, and a green salad, according to Fox10 Phoenix.

Before he was administered the lethal injection at the Arizona State Prison Complex, McGill used his last words to thank "everyone" for being "so accommodating and nice," according to John Barcello, deputy director of the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry.

The 63-year-old smiled and nodded at witnesses, and an Associated Press reporter who was among them reported him saying: "I'm going home soon," before the injection was administered, per the New York Post.

A lethal dose of pentobarbital was administered, after which McGill began breathing heavily and making snoring sounds, and after around 21 minutes, he was pronounced dead at 10:26AM local time.

McGill had been in prison for over 20 years after the attack on Perez and his girlfriend, Nova Banta, as they sat on a sofa in their apartment on July 13, 2002, after they accused him of taking a gun from the apartment.

Prosecutors said Perez died in excruciating pain in hospital after the fire, while Banta survived with third-degree burns over three-quarters of her body.

McGill said he had been using methamphetamines and hadn’t slept in several days before the attack.

It took the jury less than an hour of deliberation before convicting McGill of first-degree premeditated murder in October 2004, and he was also convicted for several other charges, including attempted murder, arson, and endangerment of the apartment residents who were forced to flee as the fire rapidly spread.

McGill's lawyers had argued that he should be given leniency after presenting evidence that he had been abused as a child and had a mental impairment and psychological immaturity.

They made a last-ditch attempt for resentencing this Spring, but a lower-court judge rejected the bid.

Featured image credit: Arizona Department of Correction