Police Chief’s Killer Executed in Georgia
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JACKSON, Ga. — Henry Willis III, who was convicted of shooting a small-town police chief to death one day before the victim was to leave for a new job, died in the electric chair Thursday night.
Willis was pronounced dead at 11:20 p.m. at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Center, Corrections Department spokesman John Siler said.
He was given the death penalty for his part in the Feb. 11, 1976, killing of Ray City Police Chief Ed Giddens, 29.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday denied Willis’ appeal but did not lift a brief stay ordered by a lower federal court.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta had issued its stay about 30 minutes before Willis’ scheduled 7 p.m. execution. The court, which did not find merit to Willis’ appeal, granted the delay to give his attorneys time to file the U.S. Supreme Court appeal.
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