ATLANTA, May 22 (UPI) -- The Georgia Board of Pardons and Appeals Thursday commuted the death sentence for a man hours before he was to die for a 1988 murder.
The board issued a brief announcement of its decision after holding a clemency hearing for Samuel David Crowe and considering the case for a few hours. The board ordered Crowe to serve life in prison without parole.
Crowe pleaded guilty to killing Joe Pala, a manager at Wickes Lumber in Douglasville, Ga., and was sentenced to death by a jury. He was a former employee of the lumber company, and his wife still worked there.
During his initial confession to police, Crowe said he went to Wickes to rob the store because he needed money. He later retracted that confession and claimed he got into a fight with Pala, who had threatened to tell his wife about his drug use.
Pala was shot and beaten with a crowbar and had paint dumped on him.
