Marcellus Williams, a Missouri death row inmate who has maintained his innocence for nearly 24 years, is set to be executed on Tuesday.
At 55, Williams was convicted of the murder of Felicia Gayle, a former newspaper reporter who was found stabbed to death in her home in 1998. Despite the conviction, Williams has consistently insisted that he did not commit the crime.
His execution is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT at the state prison in Bonne Terre, unless the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes.
On Monday, Governor Mike Parson of Missouri, a Republican, denied Williams’ clemency request to avoid the death penalty and instead serve a life sentence.
The Missouri Supreme Court also dismissed a petition to stop the execution.
Williams’ attorneys argue that numerous errors occurred during the trial, such as alleged mishandling of the murder weapon by the prosecution and procedural mistakes in jury selection. They assert that the trial prosecutor improperly excluded a potential Black juror based on racial bias.
“Missouri is on the brink of executing an innocent man, a situation that raises serious doubts about the credibility of the entire criminal justice system,” remarked Tricia Rojo Bushnell, one of Williams’ attorneys, on Monday.
During the original trial, prosecutors claimed that Williams broke into Gayle’s home on August 11, 1998, heard water running from the shower, and discovered a large butcher knife.
Gayle, who previously worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, was stabbed 43 times upon coming downstairs. Her purse and her husband’s laptop were reported stolen.
Authorities stated that Williams took a jacket to cover the blood on his shirt, which raised questions when his girlfriend asked why he was wearing a jacket on such a hot day. She later noted seeing the purse and laptop in his car, claiming that Williams sold the computer a day or two after the incident.
Concerns regarding DNA evidence prompted St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell to seek a hearing questioning Williams’ guilt.
However, just days before the August 21 hearing, new testing revealed that DNA found on the knife belonged to members of the prosecutor’s office who had handled it without gloves after the original crime lab tests.
