Feb. 18
SOUTH DAKOTA---inmate drops appeals; 1st state execution in modern era set
Page's Execution Date Set
A judge has set the week of August 28th for the execution of 24-year-old
Elijah Page, a death row inmate who wrote a letter that said he's giving
up his appeals and wants to face execution.
Page, of Athens, Texas, pleaded guilty to 1st-degree murder for torturing
and beating a Spearfish man to death in March 2000. Circuit Judge Warren
Johnson gave Page the death sentence.
The execution week was set Friday after a brief teleconference hearing in
Deadwood.
Johnson canceled a scheduled March 1st hearing.
Paperwork on the execution date will be sent to the participating
attorneys, Governor Rounds and state penitentiary Warden Doug Weber, who
will announce the specific date and time 48 hours before the execution as
per state law.
(source: KELOLAND TV News)
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Week of execution set for Texas man in South Dakota
A judge in South Dakota has set the execution date for a Texas man who has
given up his appeals and wants to face execution.
Elijah Page, of Athens, is set to die August 28th for torturing and
beating 19-year-old Chester Poage of Spearfish South Dakota. Circuit Judge
Warren Johnson gave Page the death sentence.
Lawyers for page say they will ask for a hearing to examine Page's
competency to make the decision to face execution.
25-year-old Briley Piper, of Anchorage, Alaska, also pleaded guilty in the
slaying and was sentenced to death by lethal injection.
A 3rd defendant, Darryl Hoadley of Lead South Dakota, was sentenced to
life in prison.
Prosecutors have said Poage was beaten, stabbed and tortured and was
forced to drink a concoction of Drano and beer. Poage was finally killed
when large rocks were dropped on his head.
(source: KGBT 4 News)
