A Missouri inmate believed to be the first openly transgender woman to be executed in the nation’s history requested a classic final meal and delivered a statement of remorse before dying Tuesday.
“I’m sorry for what I did,” Amber McLaughlin, 49, said in a final written statement. “I am a caring and caring person.”
McLaughlin was convicted of murdering a former girlfriend in 2003 and then dumping her body near the Mississippi River in St. Louis. The inmate had been on death row in Missouri before Tuesday’s execution.
Before the execution, McLaughlin ordered a simple meal of a cheeseburger, fries, a strawberry milkshake and peanut M&Ms, St. Louis Public Radio reported.
MISSOURI EXECUTES TRANSGENDER WOMAN FOR MURDER OF EX-GIRLFRIEND IN 2003
This photo provided by the federal Public Defender’s Office shows death row inmate Amber McLaughlin. McLaughlin was executed on Tuesday, January 3, 2023 for a 2003 murder, becoming what she is believed to be the first transgender woman to be executed in the US.
(Jeremy S. Weis/Federal Office of the Public Defender via AP, File)
A spiritual adviser was at McLaughlin’s side during the execution, as the two spoke quietly before being injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital. McLaughlin took a deep breath before dying, the Associated Press reported.
McLaughlin began the transition three years ago at Potosí State Prison.
MISSOURI COULD BECOME THE FIRST STATE TO EXECUTE A TRANSGENDER WOMAN
McLaughlin had petitioned Missouri Governor Mike Parson for clemency prior to the execution, which was denied. In the petition, McLaughlin cited traumatic childhood and mental health issues, which the jury never heard about during the trial, leading to depression and suicide attempts.
Sue Gibson, left, of Jefferson City, and Jay Castilow, of Columbia, hold signs with others outside the Missouri Supreme Court building as they protest the execution of Amber McLaughlin on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023, in Jefferson City, Missouri . McLaughlin was convicted of killing Beverly Guenther in 2003.
(AP Photo/David A. Lieb)
“McLaughlin terrified Ms. Guenther in the last years of her life, but we hope that her family and loved ones can finally have some peace,” Parson said in a written statement after the execution.
McLaughlin was in a relationship with Beverly Guenther in 2003 and would appear and sometimes hide in Guenther’s office near St. Louis after the two had broken up. Guenther, 45 at the time of her death, obtained a restraining order and was even sometimes escorted by officers to her car at her office.
KNOWLEDGE OF THE LAST MEAL: INSIDE THE CAPTIVATING CULINARY RITUAL BEFORE DEVIOUS KILLERS FACE THEIR DEATH
This photo provided by the Missouri Department of Corrections shows Amber McLaughlin. McLaughlin became the first transgender woman to be executed in the US.
(Missouri Department of Corrections via AP, File)
His neighbors called the authorities in November 2003 when Guenther did not come home from work one day. Police searched near the woman’s office building and found a broken knife and a trail of blood near her car.
McLaughlin later led police to a location on the Mississippi River where they dumped the body. Police said the woman was repeatedly raped and stabbed before her body was thrown into the river.
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McLaughlin is believed to be the first openly transgender person to be executed in the US. In 2022, a total of 18 inmates were executed, including two in the state of Missouri.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
