The Friend Murderer, Elijah Page

Page along with two other assailants would be charged and convicted of murdering Chester Allan Poage, who was 19 at the time of his death. They would state that Poage was a friend of theirs. These three assailants would murder Paoge near the rural town of Spearfish in South Dakota. 

Poage would ultimately be kidnapped at gunpoint. Poage would then be tortured for at least 3 hours prior to the three assailants finally murdering him.

The three assailants would force Poage to drink acid all while continuing to beat and kick him. The assailants would also ultimately stab Poage in the torso and head prior to forcing him to strip his clothes off and throw him off into an ice creek. 

Poage’s body would not be discovered until a month after this heinous crime. 

Right after Page would be apprehended in the state of Texas, he would finally break down and admit to his role in Poage’s murder. Page would ultimately plead guilty and be given the death sentence. Page would then waive his right to appeals as well. 

However, the other two assailants were known as Briley Piper, 19 and Darrell Hoadley, 20. Piper would also plead guilty and be given the death sentence, but Hoadly would not be given a death sentence, but he had received a life sentence without the chance of parole. 

Final/Special Meal

Elijah Page would request a nice and savory final meal. Page wanted and received the following: 

• Steak with a side of A-1 sauce
• Onion rings
• Jalapeno poppers
• Salad with ham chunks, cherry tomatoes, bacon bits, shredded cheese, ranch dressing, and blue cheese
• Coffee
• Iced tea 
• Ice cream

Final Words

When the warden asked Elijah Page if he had any final words before they started the execution, Page quickly stated, “No.” The warden of the facility would kindly ask again, if he understood the question being asked, and Elijah Page would say, “Yes, no final words.”

How Execution is Handled Within South Dakota Department of Corrections

According to the South Dakota Codified Law 23A-27A-17, the Director of Prison Operations and Warden of the South Dakota State Penitentiary, Doug Weber was the one who was responsible for setting the time and date for the Elijah Page execution. Weber would set the date for the execution on Wednesday, July 11, 2007 at 10 pm CDT.

According to the law in South Dakota, in all capital punishment cases, the trial judge must designate at least a week for the execution event to take place, however, the exact time and day of when the execution will take place is completely up to the warden’s decision. 

However, the warden by law will be required to publicly announce at least forty-eight hours in advance of when the execution date and time will be. 

The Execution of Elijah Page

The execution of Elijah Page will be the first execution that the state of South Dakota has seen in the last 60 years. 

Elijah Page was an admitted murderer who asked the court to be put to death for his role in the brutal murder and torture of his friend, Chester Allan Poage. 

Elijah Page, who was 25 at the time of his execution, was officially pronounced dead at 10:11 pm in the execution chamber of South Dakota State Penitentiary located in Sioux Fall, South Dakota. 

Page declined both times asked, if he had any final words before being executed. He had witnessed in the witness viewing room, which consisted of the mother of Chester Allan Poage, Governor Mike Rounds, and various members of the media outlets. 

After Page was executed, Poage’s mother, Dottie was showing off childhood photos of Chester as she was being interviewed by various media outlets. Dottie would go on to say how Elijah Page finally paid the ultimate price for his ultimate crime against her son. Dottie would then wrap up by saying she never dreamt, not even in her wildest dreams of everything she has had to deal with in the last dreadful seven years. 

Elijah Page ultimately plead guilty back in 2000 for kidnapping Chester Allan Poage along with his two friends, forcing Poage to consume hydrochloric acid, along with torturing him before they murdered him. This was all so the group of teens could rob Poage’s Spearfish home. 

Page along with his co-defendants Darrell Hoadley and Briley Piper would tell the local police how they not only kicked Poage, but they also stoned and stabbed him for nearly 3 hours before throwing him into the icy creek to die. Poage would not be found until a month after he was already dead. 

The trial judge would ultimately sentence Piper and Page, who were both 19 when they committed the crime, to receive the death penalty in 2001 after the pair both agreed to the guilty pleas. 

However, Hoadley would take his chance in court. Hoadley was not given the death penalty, but he was given a life in prison sentence during his jury trial. 

However, in 2006, Elijah Page would write a handwritten letter to the South Dakota Supreme Court, stating that he wanted to waive his right to appeals and just proceed with the death penalty. 

In this same letter, he would also shed some light in hopes it would take some of the blame of Piper, who also was sitting on South Dakota’s death row, but taking complete full responsibility for plotting the murder and the burglary. 

Page would ultimately write that Piper did not really want to be a part of it, but Darryl and I were totally in on it and peer-pressured Piper to be in on it as well. 

Ending his letter, Page would state that he had nothing to lose in writing this letter. How he doesn’t want the appeals and he want to just strictly face execution, but before he could do that, he wanted to clear the air about that terrible day. 

Elijah Page’s death would mark South Dakota’s first execution using the lethal injection, since the state had halted using their electric chair back in 1984. 

However, Elijah Page was actually scheduled to die in August of 2006, but the Governor Rounds decided it needed to be postponed so that the legislature could have time to revise the 1984 statute, which only talked about using a two-drug lethal mixture rather than the current day three-drug lethal mixture. 

Prior to Elijah Page being executed, the last person that South Dakota executed was George Sitts in 1947 for murdering two lawmen.