Just went to clean out Sheol and got to the executioner. He was generated with a wand of magic missile, and rather than whacking me with Cleaver, he tried zapping me with the wand.

He was therefore extremely easily dispatched. I had a lot more trouble with the rest of his level than with him. Based on my tombstone from an earlier encounter, I know that's not the intent. :)

So, if someone's feeling frisky, perhaps modify him so that he'll ignore wands if he's within Cleaving distance of the player.