Marcellus Williams Executed In Missouri

Marcellus Williams
Marcellus Williams

Marcellus Williams was executed by the State of Missouri for the murder of Lisha Gayle in 1998

According to court documents Marcellus Williams would break into the home of Lisha Gayle and during the robbery would stab to death the woman. A number of items would be stolen from the home

Marcellus Williams would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death in 2001

Over the last few months there has been much doubt whether or not Marcellus Williams was guilty of the crime that sent him to death row. A main issue was that the DNA used to convict Marcellus was tainted by the CSI team at the original murder

However when Marcellus Williams appealed to get his death sentence overturned it was denied by the Governor of Missouri, the Missouri Supreme Court and the Supreme Court

Marcellus Williams would be executed by lethal injection on September 24 2024

Marcellus Williams Execution

Missouri death row inmate Marcellus Williams was executed by lethal injection Tuesday for the 1998 murder of Lisha Gayle, a former newspaper reporter who was found brutally stabbed in her suburban St. Louis home.

Williams, 55, died after 6:00 p.m. CDT at a Missouri state prison in Bonne Terre in Francois County, approximately 60 miles southwest of St. Louis, Williams’ lawyer confirmed to ABC News.

The capital punishment case saw national attention with Williams maintaining his innocence, the victim’s family opposing the execution and his prosecution submitting motions for appeals at every level.

“Marcellus Williams should be alive today. There were multiple points in the timeline when decisions could have been made that would have spared him the death penalty. If there is even the shadow of a doubt of innocence, the death penalty should never be an option. This outcome did not serve the interests of justice,” Wesley Bell, chief prosecutor for St. Louis County, said in a statement after the execution.

The United States Supreme Court denied two separate appeals to spare Williams’ life on Tuesday an hour ahead of his execution, despite the objection of Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.

Williams’ attorney Tricia Rojo Bushnell released a statement after SCOTUS’ decision, saying, “Tonight, Missouri will execute an innocent man Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams.”

“As dark as today is, we owe it to Khaliifah to build a brighter future. We are thankful to the St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney, for his commitment to truth and justice and all he did to try to prevent this unspeakable wrong. And for the millions of people who signed petitions, made calls, and shared Khaliifah’s story,” Bushnell said.

On Monday, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and the state’s Supreme Court rejected a bid to halt the execution.

In a statement to ABC News, Parson said, “No jury nor court, including at the trial, appellate, and Supreme Court levels, have ever found merit in Mr. Williams’ innocence claims.”

“At the end of the day, his guilty verdict and sentence of capital punishment were upheld. Nothing from the real facts of this case have led me to believe in Mr. Williams’ innocence,” Parson added.

Williams was charged with first-degree murder in 1999 for the killing of Gayle, a social worker and former reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He was found guilty in 2001.

Prosecutors in Williams’ original trial alleged he broke into Gayle’s home in August 1998 and stabbed her 43 times with a large butcher knife, according to court documents. Her purse and her husband’s laptop were stolen after the attack.

The kitchen knife used in the killing was left lodged in Gayle’s body, according to court documents. Blood, hair, fingerprints and shoe prints believed to belong to the perpetrator were found around the home.

Williams’ defense claimed that his DNA was never found on the murder weapon and two unidentified sources of DNA would lead investigators to the actual killer.

In DNA evidence discovered in August, it was found that the former prosecutor and investigator who litigated the original trial failed to wear gloves when handling the murder weapon, leaving their DNA on the knife, revealing the sources of the unidentified DNA, which did not belong to an unidentified killer.

In his statement Monday, Parson accused Williams’ attorneys of trying to “muddy the waters about DNA evidence” with claims that have previously been rejected by the courts.

“Nothing from the real facts of this case have led me to believe in Mr. Williams’ innocence,” Parson said.

Williams’ execution marks the third in Missouri this year and the 100th since the state reinstated capital punishment in 1989

https://abcnews.go.com/US/marcellus-williams-executed-lethal-injection-missouri-after-scotus/story?id=114025574

FacebookTwitterEmailPinterestRedditTumblrShare

George Gilmore Executed For 2 Missouri Murders

George Gilmore was executed by the State of Missouri for a double murder

According to court documents George Gilmore and accomplices would rob Clarence and Lottie Williams whose home would be robbed before they fled

George Gilmore would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

George Gilmore would be executed by lethal injection on August 31 1990

George Gilmore Case

George Clifton Gilmore, his brother Norman, and Leonard Laws lived in a trailer with several members of the Gilmore family; all three men were unemployed. After some discussion, they decided the easiest way to make money would be to “rob old people.” They further agreed they would kill the victims in order to prevent them from identifying any of the three perpetrators.

Late in the evening of October 28, 1980, the three met and decided to rob Clarence and Lottie Williams. In the early morning hours of October 29, 1980, they went to the Williams’s home, roused Mr. Williams, and convinced him to open his front door. They took him to his bedroom where he and Mrs. Williams were bound with clothesline. After ransacking the home and taking several items to their vehicle, defendant and Norman returned to the Williams’s bedroom. Defendant shot Mr. Williams with a twelve gauge shotgun; he reloaded the weapon and then shot Mrs. Williams. Thereafter, kerosene was spread throughout the home. Mr. Williams had not been killed by the first shotgun blast and attempted to escape when he saw the kerosene being spread throughout his home. Defendant stopped the escape by shooting Mr. Williams a second time.

Several weeks after the murders, defendant discussed the crimes with two relatives, Robert Gilmore and Bobby DeClue. After confirming the story by a visit to the site of the Williams’s home and speaking to Norman Gilmore, DeClue and Robert Gilmore reported the incident to police and agreed to help apprehend the three perpetrators. On January 2, 1981, DeClue and Robert Gilmore tricked Leonard Laws and George Gilmore into leaving their trailer; they were then arrested at a police roadblock. Norman Gilmore was arrested at a house in Franklin County, Missouri.

FacebookTwitterEmailPinterestRedditTumblrShare

Winford Stokes Executed For 3 Missouri Murders

Winford Stokes was executed by the State of Missouri for three murders

According to court documents Winford Stokes would murder Ignatius DiManuele and would plead guilty to manslaughter. Once out of prison Stokes would murder 73 year old Marie Montgomery. Two months later he would murder Pamela Benda.

Winford Stokes would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Winford Stokes would be executed by lethal injection on May 11 1990

Winford Stokes Photos

Winford Stokes - Missouri

Winford Stokes Case

A junior high school dropout who spent 10 years on death row was executed by lethal injection Friday for killing a divorced mother he met in a bar and took back to her apartment.

Winford Stokes, 39, was pronounced dead at 9:39 p.m. at Potosi Correctional Center, said Dale Riley, assistant director of the Division of Adult Institutions in Missouri.

‘Stokes made no last statements. He was calm throughout the entire process,’ Riley said.

The execution came two hours after the Supreme Court vacated a stay granted by a lower court earlier in the week.

Winford Stokes, sentenced to prison in the fatal shooting of a widow in 1977 and a bar owner in 1969, was placed on death row Jan. 17, 1980, for the murder of Pamela R. Benda, 33, a divorced mother of three. Stokes met her in a bar and they went to her apartment

The execution was the 125th in the United States since capital punishment was reinstated by the Supreme Court in 1976, and the second in Missouri this year.

‘The death warrant (was) read at 9:31 p.m.,’ Riley said. ‘The first lethal dosage administered at 9:36 p.m. death was pronounced at 9:39 p.m.

Riley said the execution equipment worked without malfunctions. During the execution of a man in Florida May 4, the electric chair apparatus worked improperly, causing flames to shoot up from the headgear.

‘There were no absolutely glitches in the process,’ Riley said of Stokes’ execution. ‘Everything proceeded exactly as scheduled.’

The state had 12 witnesses, Riley said. Winford Stokes requested no one to witness his death.

The St. Louis native ordered a last meal of fried catfish, French fries, cole slaw and a 2-liter bottle of Pepsi, but did not ask for any dessert.

Riley said Stokes asked for a sedative and received one at 7:20 p.m. His wife Evette and his mother-in-law visited him earlier in the day, but they left at 6 p.m. and were not present for the execution.

Riley said the death row inmate seemed in a good mood earlier Friday, had asked for cigarettes and Pepsi Cola to be brought to his isolation cell, and spent the morning watching television

Winford Stokes had been scheduled for death at 12:01 a.m. Friday, but a stay was issued Wednesday by U.S. District Judge George Gunn Jr. in St. Louis — the same day the Supreme Court rejected an appeal by the condemned man.

State Attorney General William Webster’s office filed a petition with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals asking that the stay be lifted.

A three-judge panel upheld the stay earlier Friday, and the full court declined early in the evening to overturn Gunn’s decision.

But the Supreme Court issued an order at 7:25 p.m. that the stay be lifted, said Mary Jenkins, a spokeswoman for the state Attorney General’s office.

Benda, a mother of three, was strangled and stabbed, and her nude body was found Feb. 21, 1978, on the bedroom floor of her apartment in University City, a suburb of St. Louis.

Benda, employed as a waitress at the Washington University Faculty Club, met Stokes in a bar, and the two went to her apartment. Her body was found with a pillow case over her head and an apron wrapped around her neck.

One month before he was convicted in Benda’s murder, Stokes pleaded guilty to the 1977 fatal shooting of Marie Montgomery, 77, a St. Louis widow. He received a 50-year prison sentence on a second-degree murder charge in that case

Winford Stokes previously had served six years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter and other charges in the fatal shooting of a St. Louis tavern owner in 1969.

Winford Stokes was one of 10 children and attended school only through the eighth grade.

After Webster’s office filed the petition for the stay to be vacated, Stokes had prepared for possible execution early Friday morning. He was served a dinner of sirloin steak, broccoli with cheese sauce, a salad with dressing, strawberry shortcake and a 2-liter bottle of cola Thursday night, Riley said.

The prisoner also was given a sedative and visited with his wife and mother-in-law, Riley said. He remained calm and was not upset about the proceedings, Riley said. He did not request a visit from a chaplain.

The three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit Court conferred via telephone conference call Thursday night and announced at 10:45 p.m. they would issue their decision Friday.

Winford Stokes, 39, was pronounced dead at 9:39 p.m. at Potosi Correctional Center, said Dale Riley, assistant director of the Division of Adult Institutions in Missouri.

The execution came two hours after the Supreme Court vacated a stay granted by a lower court earlier in the week.

Winford Stokes, sentenced to prison in the fatal shooting of a widow in 1977 and a bar owner in 1969, was placed on death row Jan. 17, 1980, for the murder of Pamela R. Benda, 33, a divorced mother of three. Stokes met her in a bar and they went to her apartment.

The execution was the 125th in the United States since capital punishment was reinstated by the Supreme Court in 1976, and the second in Missouri this year.

The St. Louis native ordered a last meal of fried catfish, French fries, cole slaw and a 2-liter bottle of Pepsi, but did not ask for any dessert.

Riley said the death row inmate seemed in a good mood earlier Friday, had asked for cigarettes and Pepsi Cola to be brought to his isolation cell, and spent the morning watching television.

Stokes had been scheduled for death at 12:01 a.m. Friday, but a stay was issued Wednesday by U.S. District Judge George Gunn Jr. in St. Louis — the same day the Supreme Court rejected an appeal by the condemned man.

State Attorney General William Webster’s office filed a petition with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals asking that the stay be lifted.

A three-judge panel upheld the stay earlier Friday, and the full court declined early in the evening to overturn Gunn’s decision.

But the Supreme Court issued an order at 7:25 p.m. that the stay be lifted, said Mary Jenkins, a spokeswoman for the state Attorney General’s office.

Benda, a mother of three, was strangled and stabbed, and her nude body was found Feb. 21, 1978, on the bedroom floor of her apartment in University City, a suburb of St. Louis.

Benda, employed as a waitress at the Washington University Faculty Club, met Stokes in a bar, and the two went to her apartment. Her body was found with a pillow case over her head and an apron wrapped around her neck.

One month before he was convicted in Benda’s murder, Stokes pleaded guilty to the 1977 fatal shooting of Marie Montgomery, 77, a St. Louis widow. He received a 50-year prison sentence on a second-degree murder charge in that case.

Stokes previously had served six years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter and other charges in the fatal shooting of a St. Louis tavern owner in 1969.

Stokes was one of 10 children and attended school only through the eighth grade

After Webster’s office filed the petition for the stay to be vacated, Stokes had prepared for possible execution early Friday morning. He was served a dinner of sirloin steak, broccoli with cheese sauce, a salad with dressing, strawberry shortcake and a 2-liter bottle of cola Thursday night, Riley said.

The prisoner also was given a sedative and visited with his wife and mother-in-law, Riley said. He remained calm and was not upset about the proceedings, Riley said. He did not request a visit from a chaplain.

The three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit Court conferred via telephone conference call Thursday night and announced at 10:45 p.m. they would issue their decision Friday

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/05/11/Condemned-man-executed-for-1978-killing/2964642398400/

FacebookTwitterEmailPinterestRedditTumblrShare

Gerald Smith Executed For Karen Roberts Murder

Gerald Smith was executed by the State of Missouri for the murder of Karen Roberts

According to court documents Gerald Smith blamed Karen Roberts for a sexually transmitted disease so he would go to the woman’s home and beat the woman to death with an iron bar

Gerald Smith would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Gerald Smith once on Missouri death row would murder a fellow inmate and receive yet another death penalty

Gerald Smith would be executed by lethal injection on January 18 1990

Gerald Smith Case

A man who was convicted of killing his girlfriend was executed by injection early today, becoming the the 121st nationwide since 1976, when the Supreme Court allowed states to restore the death penalty.

The prisoner, Gerald Smith, 31- years old, had asked that his death sentence be carried out. He was pronounced dead at 12:09 A.M., said Dick Moore, director of the state Department of Corrections.

It was Missouri’s second execution since 1965.

Mr. Smith had no last words and refused an opportunity to write a last statement, a prison spokesman, Dale Riley, said.

Mr. Smith said in a letter to a newspaper that he chased and killed the victim, Karen Roberts because she gave him a venereal disease. ”I wanted her to feel some pain so I beat her little lousy head in,” he said. ”If she were living now I would do it all over to her again.”

He signed the letter: ”Gerald Smith, the cold blooded killer.”

Opponents of the death penalty made a last-ditch effort to save Mr. Smith’s life by filing a motion Wednesday afternoon with the Supreme Court, but the court voted 7-2 to reject the appeal.

Gov. John Ashcroft also declined a reprieve to block the execution, his spokesman said.

Mr. Smith met Wednesday evening with his court-appointed lawyer, C. John Pleban, Mr. Riley said. Mr. Pleban had conceded earlier that few, if any, legal angles remained to spare his client, who has wavered in the past on his claim that he wanted to die.

A Second Death Sentence

Mr. Smith was also sentenced to death for the slaying in 1985 of a fellow death-row inmate.

He Smith had been sentenced to die a week ago, but Mr. Pleban won a stay from Associate Justice Harry A. Blackmun until the Court could review more arguments. The Court lifted the stay by a 6-to-3 vote Tuesday, and the Missouri Supreme Court moved quickly to set the new execution date.

FacebookTwitterEmailPinterestRedditTumblrShare

Maurice Byrd Executed For 4 Missouri Murders

Maurice Byrd was executed by the State of Missouri for four murders

According to court documents Maurice Byrd would rob the Pope’s Cafeteria in the West County Shopping Mall. In the process of the armed robbery he would shoot and kill three employees and shoot another employee who would die later in the hospital. James Wood, 51; Carolyn Turner, 51; Edna Ince, 68; and Judy Cazaco, 37

Maurice Boyd would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Maurice Boyd would be executed by lethal injection on August 23 1991

Maurice Byrd Photos

Maurice Byrd - Missouri

Maurice Byrd Case

Maurice Oscar Byrd, convicted of killing four cafeteria workers, including one who had an eye shot out, was executed early Friday at a Missouri state prison by injection.

Technicians at the Potosi Correctional Center, about 60 miles southwest of St. Louis, administered the lethal dose of drugs at 12:04 a.m., said Dale Riley, a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Corrections. Byrd lost consciousness within two minutes, Riley said, and was pronounced dead by prison doctors at 12:13 a.m

Byrd, 37, answered ‘no’ when asked if he wanted to make a final statement to official witnesses, and did not struggle during the procedure, Riley said.

‘He showed no resistance on his escort from the isolation room to the execution room,’ the prison spokesman said. ‘He showed no resistance on the gurney.’

Missouri Gov. John Ashcroft, who had rejected appeals from death- penalty opponents to commute Byrd’s sentence, issued a statement after the execution

‘Justice has been served,’ Ashcroft said. ‘This regrettable event is necessary to reaffirm the value the state of Missouri places on innocent human life.’

Ashcroft extended his sympathies to Byrd’s family, but said, ‘We must never forget’ the suffering of relatives of the victims.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Byrd’s final appeal about 9 p.m. Thursday, and Ashcroft also refused to intervene.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis turned down several requests for stays this week, although Chief Judge Donald Lay said the court should consider whether the black inmate might have been discriminated against by an all-white jury. Lay was out-voted by the rest of the court.

Byrd was sentenced to die in 1982 for killing four workers at a Pope’s Cafeteria in suburban St. Louis.

Byrd became the sixth person executed in Missouri since the death penalty was reinstated three years ago. Seventy-six people remain on Missouri’s death row.

Byrd awaited his fate in an isolation cell where he has been held since Aug. 14, watching television, receiving visits from family members and going over funeral arrangements, Riley said.

Maurice Byrd shared a last meal of bacon, lobster, shrimp fried rice and chicken breast with his family, Riley said. The spokesman said the family members then left, and Byrd requested no personal witnesses to his execution

‘Mr. Byrd did not want any witnesses, and I think it was simply a mutual agreement between he and the family,’ Riley said.

A group of people opposed to the death penalty held a candlelight vigil outside the prison gates.

Byrd’s attorneys had asked the Supreme Court to consider what they said was new evidence that might show black jurors were deliberately excluded from hearing the trial.

Maurice Byrd was convicted of killing the cafeteria employees during an October 1980 robbery that netted about $9,000. All of the victims — James Wood, 51; Carolyn Turner, 51; Edna Ince, 68; and Judy Cazaco, 37 — were shot in the head. One was shot once in each eye.

Testimony at Byrd’s trial revealed he once said he preferred to shoot his victims in the eyes so they would be unable to identify him if they survived.

Maurice Byrd was convicted despite a lack of physical evidence linking him to the crime. Police collected most of the information connecting him to the killings from conversations he had with fellow prisoners in a Georgia jail. Byrd was convicted of murder in the slaying of a liquor store employee in Georgia after the Missouri killings.

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/08/23/Missouri-killer-executed/5658682920000/

FacebookTwitterEmailPinterestRedditTumblrShare
Exit mobile version