Missouri judge rejects innocence claim of Marcellus Williams who faces execution
A judge has declined to vacate the conviction and death sentence of Missouri inmate Marcellus Williams, who is facing execution for killing of a woman in her home in 1998
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A judge declined Thursday to vacate the conviction and death sentence of Marcellus Williams, a Missouri man scheduled for execution later this month in the stabbing death of a woman in 1998, despite questions about DNA evidence on the knife used in the attack.
St. Louis County Circuit Judge Bruce Hilton presided over an evidentiary hearing last month challenging Williams' guilt. Williams, 55, was convicted in the killing of Lisha Gayle, a social worker and former reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. His execution by lethal injection is scheduled for Sept. 24 unless the courts or Republican Gov. Mike Parson intervene.
“Every claim of error Williams has asserted on direct appeal, post-conviction review, and habeas review has been rejected by Missouri's courts,” Hilton wrote. “There is no basis for a court to find that Williams is innocent, and no court has made such a finding. Williams is guilty of first-degree murder, and has been sentenced to death.”
Williams' attorney, Tricia Bushnell, said in a statement that the Midwest Innocence Project "will continue pursuing every possible option to prevent Mr. Williams’ wrongful execution. There is still time for the courts or Governor Parson to ensure that Missouri does not commit the irreparable injustice of executing an innocent person.”
