Missouri Supreme Court Blocks Agreement That Would Have Halted Inmate's Execution

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) The Missouri Supreme Court has blocked an agreement that would have spared the life of death row inmate Marcellus Williams  and instead ordered a hearing to proceed on Williams innocence claim, with just a little over a month to go before his scheduled execution.

The ruling late Wednesday came hours after St. Louis County Circuit Judge Bruce Hilton approved a plan allowing Williams to enter a new no-contest plea to first-degree murder in the 1998 death of Lisha Gayle. Though Williams lawyers said he still maintained he was innocent, the plea acknowledged evidence was sufficient for a conviction.

Williams would have been sentenced to life in prison without parole on Thursday. Instead, the Sept. 24 execution  date is still on, pending a hearing before Hilton on Williams innocence claim.

That hearing had originally been scheduled to begin Wednesday. St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell had asked the judge to vacate Williams murder conviction based on DNA testing that found other DNA but not that of Williams on the knife used to kill Gayle.

But a new DNA test report released this week showed that handling of the murder weapon decades ago by a former assistant prosecutor and a former investigator contaminated the evidence so much that it was of no value to Williams case. That finding prompted prosecutors to reach the agreement with Williams that Hilton signed off on.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey immediately appealed, arguing that a circuit court lacked authority to override a capital murder sentence.

The Missouri Supreme Court agreed, ordering that Hilton set aside said consent order and judgment and file notice with this Court that you will take action ... including holding the evidentiary hearing previously scheduled and anticipated.

Hilton on Thursday scheduled the new evidentiary hearing for Aug. 28.

Bailey, in a statement, said people too often forget about all of the evidence that was used to convict the defendant the evidence the jury relied on and the victims. It is in the interest of every Missourian that the rule of law is fought for and upheld.

Tricia Bushnell, Williams attorney, said in a statement that the state Supreme Court ruling directly contradicts the will of a duly elected prosecutor and the community he represents and the wishes of a family who has already lost so much. Hilton said Wednesday that Gayles family did not want Williams to be executed.

An email from Bells spokesman said the prosecutors office still has concerns about the integrity of the conviction of Marcellus Williams as expressed in our motion that requested this hearing, particularly given that his conviction led to the irrevocable punishment of death.

The courtroom Wednesday was packed with people who included several others who have been exonerated of crimes. For hours, lawyers met behind closed doors. Finally, Matthew Jacober, a special prosecutor for the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorneys Office, announced that the contaminated evidence made it impossible to show that someone else may have been the killer.

The murder weapon was handled without proper procedures in place, Jacober said. The improper handling occurred several years before Bell took office.

That finding prompted the St. Louis County prosecutors to reach an consent judgment allowing Williams to enter an Alford plea. He also agreed not to appeal.

Bailey said in a statement Wednesday that the defense created a false narrative of innocence in order to get a convicted murderer off of death row and fulfill their political ends.

Williams was hours away from execution in August 2017  when then-Gov. Eric Greitens, a Republican, granted a stay after DNA testing unavailable at the time of the killing showed that DNA on the knife matched someone else, not Williams.

That evidence prompted Bell to reexamine the case. Bell defeated incumbent Cori Bush  in Missouris 1st Congressional District Democratic primary on Aug. 6 and will be heavily favored in the November general election.

A 2021 Missouri law  allows prosecuting attorneys to file a motion seeking to vacate a conviction they believe was unjust. Three other men  Christopher Dunn  last month, Kevin Strickland  and Lamar Johnson   have been freed after decades in prison after prosecutors successfully challenged their convictions.

Prosecutors at Williams original trial said he broke into Gayles suburban St. Louis home on Aug. 11, 1998, heard water running in the shower, and found a large butcher knife. When Gayle came downstairs, she was stabbed 43 times. Her purse and her husbands laptop were stolen. Gayle was a social worker who previously worked as a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Authorities said Williams stole a jacket to conceal blood on his shirt. Williams girlfriend asked him why he would wear a jacket on a hot day. The girlfriend said she later saw the laptop in the car and that Williams sold it a day or two later.

Prosecutors also cited testimony from Henry Cole, who shared a St. Louis cell with Williams in 1999 while Williams was jailed on unrelated charges. Cole told prosecutors Williams confessed to the killing and offered details about it.

Williams attorneys responded that the girlfriend and Cole were both convicted felons out for a $10,000 reward.