In the small community of Pencil Bluff, Arkansas, a routine stop for gas on February 7, 1980, turned into a fatal encounter for Donald Lee Teague. At approximately 2:00 p.m., Teague, a 37-year-old male Wildlife Technician for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, pulled into E. L. Ward's Service Station. At that moment, a man named Darrell Wayne Hill was also at the station, having just had his radiator checked and his car filled with gas.
As the station owner, E.L.
Ward, went inside to clear the pumps for Teague, Hill entered the garage brandishing a gun. He first robbed Ward and then turned his weapon on Teague as he entered the building. Hill ordered both men to put their billfolds into a money bag and then forced them into a car, telling them they were going for a ride. With Teague instructed to drive and Ward to hold the money bag, Hill directed them onto a gravel road off Highway 88.
Once they reached a secluded spot, Hill ordered Teague to stop the car. He then marched both men into a weedy area and forced them to lie down with their hands behind their backs. It was there that Hill shot Donald Teague multiple times, ending his life.
Following the murder, Darrell Wayne Hill was apprehended and faced justice for his crimes. He was convicted of the capital felony murder of Donald Teague, as well as kidnapping and aggravated robbery. The court sentenced him to death for the murder. Hill remained on death row until he died on December 8, 2005.
