a guilty verdict in just over an hour. On October 13, 1983, Walker was sentenced to death. In 1987, he decided to forgo further appeals of his sentence. In 1988, the Supreme Court of Illinois deemed Walker mentally competent to waive further legal appeals. While on death row, Walker communicated with convicted serial killer John Wayne Gacy. In an interview, Walker explained how he and Gacy would only talk about generalities such as ball scores and never about Walker's desire to be executed. Execution On September 12, 1990, Walker was executed by lethal injection at Stateville Correctional Center. He was the first person to be executed in Illinois in over twenty-eight years. His last meal consisted of fried wild rabbit, biscuits, and blackberry pie. Walker's execution was prolonged due to a kink in the plastic tubing, which stopped the flow of chemicals into his body. See also Capital punishment in Illinois Capital punishment in the United States List of people executed in Illinois References 1940 births 1990 deaths 20th-century executions by Illinois 20th-century executions of American people American people executed for murder Executed people from Illinois People convicted of murder by Illinois People executed by Illinois by lethal injection