Cole... they didn't get the "death penalty". Nobody decided to feed them to a lion. They were doing something that they knew what a)illegal and b)dangerous.
There are other ways these guys can make money. You're suggesting that the end justifies the means, which is a whole nother debate, but this one is pretty much summed up. All they were trying to do was kill some animals. And they got killed. I'm not happy that they died, but they definately deserved it. They went there to do harm, illegaly, and me a lion. Sorry, but I really have no sympathy. They shouldn't have been there, they certainly knew that, so good riddance to a couple of poacher/morons. We didn't need them in the gene pool anyway.