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Condemned Ohio killer facing Wednesday execution found hanging in cell on death row
CLEVELAND – A convicted killer facing execution Wednesday has been found hanged in his cell on Ohio’s death row.
Prison spokeswoman JoEllen Smith says 44-year-old Billy Slagle was found hanging in his cell early Sunday at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution south of Columbus. He was declared dead about one hour later.
No other details were immediately provided.
He was sentenced to die for fatally stabling neighbour Mari Anne Pope in 1987 during a Cleveland burglary while two young children were present.
In a rare move, the prosecutor in Cleveland asked the Ohio Parole Board to spare Slagle. Tim McGinty said jurors today, with the option of life without parole, would be unlikely to sentence Slagle to death.
The parole board and Gov. John Kasich both rejected mercy for Slagle.
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