Fourth Time is a Charm for Warren Lee Hill

If someone asked Warren Lee Hill for his advice on how to be executed, he might say, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again.” That’s because the convicted double-murderer was up for execution three other times before the state of Georgia finally pulled the trigger tonight, so to speak.

Hill was originally jailed for murdering his girlfriend. Then, while in prison, he used a nail-studded board to murder his cellmate Joseph Handspike. That’s right; Hill basically used a “handspike” to murder a man named Handspike. The irony is amazing—it would be like beating a man named Bill Hoover to death with a vacuum cleaner, or using a Philips Head screwdriver to stab a man named John Philips. If only his cellmate had been named for a soft, safe, non-lethal item, like Brad Flowers or Matt Kleenex or Ben Cotton.

Despite being up for execution four times, Hill never exercised his right to order a special last meal. Today he was served the same food as others in his unit, which meant that Warren Hill’s last meal was Shepherd’s Pie, mashed potatoes, red bean, cabbage relish salad, cornbread, sugar cookies, and fruit punch.