Walter Blair was executed by the State of Missouri for the murder of Katherine Jo Allen
According to court documents Walter Blair was in jail with Larry Jackson. Jackson was awaiting trial for the sexual assault of Katherine Jo Allen. Jackson would hire Blair to murder the woman so she could not testify against him. Blair would take Katherine Jo Allen from her apartment with force and would later murder the woman
Walter Blair would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Walter Blair would be executed by lethal injection on July 21 1993
Walter Blair Case
Missouri’s longest-serving death row inmate was executed by injection early today for a 1979 contract murder he blamed on a man now dead.
Walter Junior Blair, 32, went to his death after the United States Supreme Court lifted a stay issued by a Federal appeals court earlier in the day. It was the fourth stay he received during his 12 1/2 years on death row.
He had no final statement.
Prosecutors accused the defendant of taking $6,000 to kill a Kansas City art student, Katherine Jo Allen, to keep her from testifying at the rape trial of Larry Jackson. The 21-year-old woman was shot to death in Kansas City.
The defense had claimed to have new evidence that Ernest Jones, the star witness against Mr. Blair, carried out the slaying. Mr. Jones died several years ago.
Among those signing sworn statements accusing Mr. Jones was Mr. Jackson, who is serving a life sentence for an unrelated murder and was never tried for the rape of Ms. Allen or her slaying.
Prosecutors said the evidence was introduced at trial and rejected by the jury.
Mr. Blair was the ninth person executed in Missouri, and the 208th nationwide, since the Supreme Court in 1976 allowed capital punishment to resume.
The Missouri Supreme Court had refused in 1982 to overturn the death sentence imposed on Mr. Blair, who was originally sentenced to die on Oct. 16 of that year. Mr. Blair had said he would rather be put to death than continue to live on death row.
A mural painted by Mr. Blair decorated the end of one of the four wings of Missouri’s death row. “Death is certain,” the mural said, “but life is not.”
