NORTH CAROLINA LAST MEAL
STEVEN VAN MCHONE
November 11, 2005

Last Meal: McHone has a final meal request for a medium-rare Porterhouse steak, steak fries, chocolate cheesecake and a 20-ounce Mountain Dew.

The skinny: McHone was executed for the shooting deaths of his mother and stepfather.

More skinny: After a family fishing trip, the two victims and other relatives returned to the couple's home. Their son, McHone, who was 19 at the time, was there and started arguing with his mother about money. McHone had been living at home while on probation for some larceny convictions. The mother told the others a handgun was missing, and three gunshots were heard a short time later coming from the back yard. McHone had shot the woman in the back of the head and left her face down and injured in the back yard. McHone then found a shotgun and shot his stepfather inside the house. The shootings ended when Wesley Adams Jr., took away the gun and held McHone down until police arrived.

Witnesses testified that McHone drank 1 1/2 bottles of Jack Daniels whiskey and a pitcher of beer and might have taken drugs before the killings.

Leading up to: Starting at 10 a.m. Thursday, McHone, 35, began having the first contact visits with his family and friends since he arrived on death row 14 years ago.

McHone lost his last chance to halt the execution when Gov. Mike Easley denied clemency late Thursday. That decision was announced after the U.S. Supreme Court turned down McHone's appeal without comment. The court rejected the appeal from McHone's lawyers to stop the execution so that his mother's dying statement that he didn't intend to shoot her could be considered.

Final words and such: He issued no last statement, but appeared to say "I'm so sorry," to half brother Wesley Adams Jr., who supported the execution and drove from Ohio to witness it.

"We have sympathy and pray for comfort for those who will grieve Steve's passing," Adams said in a statement. "We do, however, feel that justice was upheld and that this fate was sealed many years ago."

Other family members had sought clemency.

Factoids: McHone was the....

50th murderer executed in U.S. in 2005
994th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
3rd murderer executed in North Carolina in 2005
37th murderer executed in North Carolina since 1976