The state of Missouri has set a date for the execution of death row inmate Marcellus Williams despite his pleas for a hearing to discuss an innocence claim, which some believe could have merit.
Williams, 55, was convicted of first-degree murder and given capital punishment in 2003 over the murder of Felicia Gayle at her residence in University City in St. Louis five years prior. Prosecutors allege the 55-year-old ransacked Gayle's home for valuable before ultimately stabbing her to death and fleeing with a jacket he used to hide his blood-soaked shirt, her purse and her husband's laptop.
Gayle, 42, had been a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch before becoming a social worker. Williams' girlfriend would go on to testify that she found his bloodied shirt along with the social worker's possessions in the trunk of the car he drove to pick her up that day.
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She also said he confessed to the grisly deed once confronted ,according to court filings. Furthermore, it is believed that Williams confessed to killing Gayle again while speaking to a cell mate. He was jailed on unrelated charges.
The case seemed solid until some recent developments. In 2017, the state was gearing up to put him to death when former Gov Eric Greitens halted it for an investigation into the evidence originally used for the conviction. It was revealed that contemporary forensic tests had determined DNA on the murder weapon didn't match Williams.
It was also made apparent the testing wasn't available at the time of the felon's criminal trial. Ultimately, the former governor gathered a band of retired judges to examine Williams' claim of innocence. It was never made clear why the inquiry board never came to a decision in their investigation, but current Missouri Gov Mike Parson decided to end it and proceed with the execution.
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In January, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell requested Williams' sentence be dissolved completely. He cited a Missouri law, which allows a prosecuting attorney to request a deferral or dismissal of a conviction "at any time if he or she has information that the convicted person may be innocent or may have been erroneously convicted."
Bell signaled that he wants an investigation into DNA evidence that supports a "conclusion that Mr. Williams was not the individual who stabbed Ms. Gayle has never been considered by a court." Meanwhile, the state's supreme court set Willams' execution for Sept 24.
"Missouri Constitution vests the governor with exclusive constitutional authority to grant or deny clemency and Williams has no statutory or due process right to the board of inquiry process," Judge Zel Fisher wrote in the court's unanimous ruling.
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