Missouri executes Marcellus Williams, who was convicted of murder in 1998
Marcellus Williams was convicted of the murder of Lisha Gayle. Despite concerns from the victim’s family and a prosecutor, he is set to be executed.
A judge in Missouri has rejected a motion to overturn a convicted man’s death sentence, even though lawyers, including a prosecutor, said evidence was mishandled during the 1998 trial that could have exonerated Marcellus “Khaliifah” William.
William, 55, is still scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection on Sept. 24 at the state prison in Bonne Terre, a city in Francois County about 60 miles southwest of St. Louis.
Williams was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of 42-year-old Lisha Gayle, a former reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The woman, who was a social worker at the time, was found bludgeoned to death in the suburban St. Louis home where she lived with her husband.
According to court documents, she was stabbed 43 times with a kitchen knife that was stolen from the couple’s home.
St. Louis County District Judge Bruce Hilton’s ruling Thursday followed an Aug. 28 evidentiary hearing during which St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell presented a new DNA lab report showing that the murder weapon had been improperly handled during Williams’ trial.
Bell had filed a motion based on new DNA tests conducted on a murder weapon recovered from the crime scene. Prosecutors said these tests “definitively ruled out” Williams as Gayle’s killer.
According to court records, Hilton ruled that overturning the 2001 conviction was not warranted under Missouri law.
Tricia Rojo Bushnell, one of Williams’ attorneys, told USA TODAY that her client’s defense team will continue to appeal and seek clemency from Republican Gov. Mike Parson.
“A prosecutor’s decision to overturn a murder conviction and death sentence is not one he makes lightly,” Bushnell said Thursday. “There is overwhelming evidence that the trial of Marcellus Williams was unconstitutional. This includes revelations that the state tampered with the most important piece of evidence in this case – the murder weapon.”
“We will continue to pursue every possible option to prevent the wrongful execution of Mr. Williams,” Bushnell said. “There is still time for the courts or Governor Parson to ensure that Missouri does not commit the irreparable injustice of executing an innocent man.”
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What did Williams’ lawyers argue in this case?
The core of Williams’ argument focused on DNA evidence that authorities recently found had been tainted during the trial by two St. Louis District Attorney’s Office officials – a retired prosecutor and an investigator.
During the evidentiary hearing late last month, prosecutor Keith Larner admitted to handling the murder weapon five times without gloves before the trial, suggesting Williams may be innocent.
Although Bell sought to overturn Williams’ murder conviction, the state’s Attorney General, Andrew Bailey, argued that it should stand.
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Court documents: Williams’ DNA was not found on the murder weapon
Earlier this year, it appeared Williams’ conviction might be overturned when prosecutor Bell filed a motion to vacate the convicted inmate’s conviction, citing tests that showed Williams’ DNA was not on the murder weapon. These tests were not available at Williams’ trial in 2001.
“New evidence significantly undermines confidence in the legality of Mr. Williams’ conviction,” Bell wrote in the 86-page petition filed Jan. 26. “Mr. Williams may be innocent.”
Further investigations revealed that the public prosecutor had handled the murder weapon so improperly that it was impossible to identify the murderer.
On August 21, Bell’s office and Williams’ attorneys reached an agreement that Williams would enter a new, unconditional guilty plea to first-degree murder in exchange for a life sentence without parole. The victim’s husband, Dr. Daniel Picus, signed the guilty plea.
But the same day Hilton accepted the guilty plea, the state’s attorney general intervened and filed a motion arguing that Williams’ death sentence should stand. The defense, Bailey said, “created a false narrative of innocence to get a convicted murderer off death row and achieve their political goals.”
The Missouri Supreme Court subsequently blocked an agreement to spare Williams’ life.
The abuse “destroyed his last and best chance” to prove his innocence, Jonathan Potts, one of Williams’ defense attorneys, told the judge during his closing argument at the Aug. 28 evidentiary hearing.
“It is in the best interests of all Missourians that the rule of law is fought for and upheld – every time, without exception,” Bailey said in a statement the following day. “I am glad the Missouri Supreme Court has recognized this.”
A political battle for a man’s life
Bell, a Democrat, came into the spotlight a decade ago after police shot and killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Bell is also now a Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress after defeating incumbent U.S. Rep. Cori Bush in a primary last month.
Bailey, a Republican, has fought wrongful conviction lawsuits before, most recently fighting a St. Louis Circuit Court judge’s order to release a man whose murder conviction was overturned in July. But on July 30, just over a week after the Supreme Court intervened, 52-year-old Christopher Dunn was released from prison after serving more than 30 years.
A new law in Missouri allows prosecutors to challenge past convictions if they believe a person was incarcerated for crimes they did not commit. Since the law took effect in 2021, only two other people have been released from prison after years in prison: Lamar Johnson and Kevin Strickland.
Potts said Williams’ case was the first time the case had been used for a death row inmate.
Williams was almost executed once before, but was spared hours before his lethal injection scheduled for August 2017.
At the time, Republican Governor Eric Greitens granted a reprieve after tests showed that DNA on the gun matched that of an unknown person.
The results prompted Bell to re-investigate the case.
What did Williams argue in his murder trial?
Gayle’s husband was acquitted of murder charges. According to court documents, there was no evidence at the scene linking him to the crime.
The case relied on the testimony of two witnesses, including a prison informant who testified in exchange for a reduced sentence, reported the Springfield News-Leader, part of the USA TODAY Network.
The other witness was Williams’ ex-girlfriend, a convicted felon with a drug past. According to court records, she led police to his trunk a year after the crime, where they found the victim’s laptop.
According to court documents, Williams said his ex gave him the laptop because she wanted a $10,000 reward for solving Gayle’s murder case.
Tests revealed that no Williams DNA was found on the knife in Gayle’s neck.
“Bloody shoe prints were found next to a knife sheath in the kitchen, in the hallway leading to the entryway, and on the carpet next to Ms. Gayle’s body. Bloody fingerprints were found on the wall. And hair believed to belong to the perpetrator was found on Ms. Gayle’s shirt, her hands, and the floor,” Bell wrote in his motion to overturn Williams’ conviction. “None of this physical evidence linked Mr. Williams to Ms. Gayle’s murder.”
If his lethal injection is administered, Williams would be the third inmate executed in Missouri this year.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X at @nataliealund.
