Death row inmate's final meal request that was so bizarre it was denied by prison guards

Prior to his execution on 20 June 1990, convicted killer James Edward Smith was asked his final meal request.

The 37-year-old's eerie response was deemed so unnerving, however, that in a death row rarity, his culinary plea was denied.

In the years prior, Smith brutally murdered life insurance worker Larry Don Rohus during an armed robbery.

In March 1983, the Kentucky-born criminal approached the window of a female bank teller at the Union National Life Insurance Company in Houston, Texas. Wearing a mask, he slid open the glass and pointed a gun at the employee, ordering her to hand over vast sums of cash.

After she refused, Smith turned on another insurance worker, 44-year-old Rohus, who complied with his order.

Sadly, however, despite Rohus pleading with the armed robber, Smith went on to fire two shots - one of which hit his victim in the chest.

Smith committed his crime in 1983 (Texas Department of Criminal Justice)

Rohus was subsequently rushed to hospital, but died of his injuries in the hours that followed.

Despite fleeing the scene, taxi driver Smith was chased by two office workers, catching the attention of local police who arrested him. The killer was charged with murder and held without bond.

A month after his crimes, he was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to death.

In death row tradition, when a date was finally set for Smith's execution, he was asked by prison guards what he'd like to eat for his last ever meal - a question to which he gave a chilling response.

The prison inmate had requested 'rhaeakunda dirt', a type of soil commonly used in voodoo rituals that Smith believed might assist with his reincarnation. Whilst behind bars, he'd been known to practice obscure rituals in his cell.

His niche request was subsequently denied by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, however, who argued that dirt was not on the approved list of foods.

Smith had requested 'rhaeakunda dirt' (Getty Stock Images)

As a result, Smith reportedly threatened to haunt the maximum security prison for 300 years.

Following a number of days, the killer was executed via lethal injection at the Huntsville United in Texas, his last words being 'Hare Krishna'.

Back in 2011, Texas ruled that death row inmates would no longer be asked for their final meal requests.

The decision was made as a result of white supremacist and murderer Lawrence Russell Brewer's extravagant request some years earlier.

After being sentenced to death for the brutal 1998 hate-killing of James Byrd Jr., Brewer requested two chicken fried steaks, a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger, a portion of fried okra, a pound of barbecue, a trio of fajitas, a meat pizza, a pint of ice cream, and a slab of peanut butter fudge for his final meal.

Despite his request being adhered to, Brewer refused to eat a single bite, after which State Senator John Whitmire demanded that Texas prison officials end the 87-year-old tradition.