Murderer’s Last Day--Pizza and Trivial Pursuit

COLUMBIA, S.C. —  Murderer Joseph Carl Shaw ordered pizza for his last meal today and played Trivial Pursuit games with family members a few feet from the electric chair which was being prepared for his Friday execution.

“He is pretty much at peace with himself and is ready for whatever happens,” attorney Stephen Bright said. “He is very calm and relaxed.”

Shaw, a former altar boy who confessed to the 1977 murders of two Columbia teen-agers, was to die at 5 a.m. Friday. He would be the first person executed in South Carolina in more than 22 years and the nation’s 35th since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976.

The 29-year-old ex-military policeman ordered pizza with everything but anchovies, tossed salad and a large Coca-Cola for his final meal at 6 p.m. today.