Ohio killer set for execution found hanged in cell

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By THOMAS J. SHEERAN

CLEVELAND (AP) - A man condemned to death for fatally stabbing a neighbor during a Cleveland burglary was found hanged in his cell Sunday just days before his Wednesday execution.

Billy Slagle, 44, was found at about 5 a.m. at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution south of Columbus and was declared dead within the hour, prison spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said.

"He was in his cell alone. No other inmates suspected to be involved," Smith said in an email. "It does appear to be a suicide."

Under regular prison policy, he was scheduled to be placed under pre-execution watch Sunday morning but "was not yet placed under constant watch," Smith said.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130804/DA7V7I6O1.html

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This undated file photo provided by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction shows Billy Slagle. Slagle, facing execution Wednesday was found hanged in his cell at the Chillecothe, Ohio Correctional Institution Sunday morning, Aug. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Ohio Department of Rehabilitation, File)

[MrSlayer]

1. Cheating the hangman.

The last vestige of freedom for this douche. Good for him, I guess.

[darkangel218]

2. I dont support the death penalty.

What is this, freaking middle east, eye for an eye?

No human should be put to death as a form of punishment. The correctional system supposed to be just that. Correction and Rehabilitation. Not killing too, " while we're at it".

The death penalty NEEDS to be abolished!!

[christx30]

3. I'm in favor of life without parole

for people like this. And looks like that's how it worked out. He wasn't executed.

[Auggie]

4. Article said he had a "troubled childhood"

Wasted life ... what a shame. I always wonder what guys like this would have been had been able to achieve had their childhood not been hijacked.

[darkangel218]

7. Just like a stray animal who has grown up hungry, kicked and abused

Some manage to get past the childhood trauma, some don't and snap.
No matter of the circumstances though, the death penalty is completely wrong.

[Auggie]

12. I'm not a fan of the death penalty either

[cliffordu]

13. Yeah, I had a troubled childhood but never had to stab anyone to prove it.

And I've achieved plenty.

[Auggie]

14. Fantastic ... how wonderful you were able to overcome that!

Others are not so lucky.

[7962]

19. thank you for bringing that up.

These days, regardless of your upbringing you KNOW whats right and wrong and murder isnt OK. Sure someone may break a law or two, but there is NO EXCUSE for murdering someone and then trying to use your childhood as an excuse.
Congrats to you for working to overcome whatever was stacked against you.

[LanternWaste]

47. Some people have never used seatbelts and yet are still alive...

Some people have never used seatbelts and yet are still alive...

[cliffordu]

48. I don't understand....

[dlwickham]

16. I had a troubled childhood and I'm not on death row

really tired of people not taking responsibility for their actions

[Auggie]

17. Congratulations!

[dlwickham]

24. keep on making excuses for these thugs

I don't think that anyone is going to miss one less murderer in this world

[Major Nikon]

25. Brilliant!

The argument that those who are against the death penalty simply want to coddle murderers is of no more value than drunken gibberish.

Just sayin'

[ConcernedCanuk]

34. +1!

.
.
.

CC

[HardTimes99]

38. +2!

[Travis_0004]

29. Who gives a shit about his troubled childhood?

I certainly don't.

Yeah, it sucks that he wasn't raised right, but that doesn't give him permission to stab and kill somebody.

If you are against the death penalty, then you can make the case that he should have been given life without parole, but even with a troubled childhood, that still doesn't change anything, and he should still be given life without parole.

[LanternWaste]

49. I imagine that's part and parcel of the problem en toto.

"Who gives a shit about his troubled childhood?"

I imagine that's part and parcel of the problem en toto.

[MrSlayer]

5. I disagree.

But I'm not interested in getting into a long, drawn out argument over it. It's not that important to me.

[darkangel218]

6. Good. niether am i.

Enjoy.

[Live and Learn]

28. +1 nt

[Pelican]

42. Are you saying that there is no deterrent aspect...

... to our system?

Don't do X or Y will happen to you?

[darkangel218]

43. What do the stats say?

Is the number of violent crimes declining because of the dp?

[MicaelS]

46. Some people are beyond "Correction and Rehabilitation".

Serial Killers for example. Ariel Castro for another. It is a waste of time and resources to try and rehabilitate them. Either the DP, Life Without Parole, or Life Without Parole in Solitary Confinement.

[Lasher]

8. It was 26 years ago that he murdered Mari Anne Pope

Whatever our criminal justice system is going to do, it needs to do it more quickly than that.

[darkangel218]

10. Not quick enough for you, eh

[MADem]

23. I didn't take that from his comments. I too think justice delayed is justice denied.

I am not in favor of the death penalty, but this guy wouldn't have been suicidal if he weren't facing that punishment after two and a half decades of ignoring the elephant in the room, kicking the can down the road, engaging in long, drawn out appeals, while settling in to institutionalized life. He probably figured the day would never come, and then, all of a sudden, there it was, staring him in the face. Not surprising that he freaked out.

And if he were suicidal for other reasons, he would have been on a proper suicide watch, with no clothes to strangle himself with, and one of those padded "robe/blanket" outfits that ensure warmth and safety for the person on suicide watch.

[Lasher]

31. Exactly right, MADem. I was thinking in more general terms.

I share the principle that justice delayed is justice denied. So did Walter Savage Landor, William Penn, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

I mean to avoid getting into a long, drawn out argument over the death penalty right now. I am sincere in this.

[Major Nikon]

33. You should be more careful about co-opting MLK, Jr for your pro-death penalty argument

"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. ... In fact, violence merely increases hate. ... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars."

"I do not think that God approves the death penalty for any crime, rape and murder included. Capital punishment is against the better judgment of modern criminology, and, above all, against the highest expression of love in the nature of God."
-- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

http://www.aclu.org/capital-punishment/race-and-death-penalty

[HardTimes99]

39. +Infinity! Glad you called out that bullshit so I didn't have to. Thanks - nt

[rug]

15. That would make him 18 at the time.

[Lasher]

18. Yes, that's right.

Mari Anne Pope was 40 years old when he stabbed her 17 times. One of the two witnesses, aged 6 and 8 at the time, committed suicide in 2012. A tragic story.

[Major Nikon]

22. His death doesn't help either one of them

http://www.reprieve.org.uk/articles/2010_02_17_DP_campaing_closure/

[Major Nikon]

21. Only took half that time for the state of Texas to murder Cameron Todd Willingham and Johnny Garrett

Perhaps that is more to your liking.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrongful_execution#United_States

[NoOneMan]

26. He didn't murder anyone else, right?

Seems like the justice system kept people safe. What more do you want? To see his entrails to make your hurt flutter?

[Initech]

9. Holy final destination!!!

[24601]

11. To bad he had not given his neighbor the same courtesy of choosing the manner and time of her death.

[7962]

20. DU needs a "like" button for posts like yours.

[Xipe Totec]

27. Premature dejugulation? nt

[keroro gunsou]

32. actually

it's exsanguination.

[Xipe Totec]

35. Actually,

Exsanguination is death by loss of blood; cutting veins, for example.

Hanging by the neck; the jugula, does not involve loss of blood.

[keroro gunsou]

36. whoops

i thought you were referring to his murder victim... my bad ^_^;

[Xipe Totec]

44. That makes sense now - thanks! nt

[Bay Boy]

30. Does it seem weird that anti-death penalty people are on the same side as...

...our corporate overlords who are (or will be) running our prison systems?
What strange bedfellows.

[HardTimes99]

40. Of all the shitty arguments in favor of the death penalty -- and they are legion even on

a nominally PROGRESSIVE board, as DU purports to be -- yours happens to be one of the scummiest I've seen. Equating death penalty opponents with the proprietors of for-profit prison systems is libel of the worst sort and deserves harsh condemnation, not just by by death penalty opponents but by anyone who objects to slimy McCarthyite rhetoric.

Have you no shame, sir? At long last, have you no sense of decency?

[Bay Boy]

45. What in the world are you talking about?

I'm not in favor of the death penalty!!! Never said or implied that I was either.
I'm just pointing out the 'strange bedfellows' of those who actively oppose the death penalty on moral grounds and the corporate prison companies who don't want to give up their cash cows (lifers).

I will patiently await your apology for jumping (leaping) to an erroneous conclusion.

[Major Nikon]

41. Derp