Felicia Gayle Picus (known as Lisha) was a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter who was found stabbed to death in her St. Louis, Missouri home.

Murder

Gayle, 42 years old at the time, was murdered during a burglary in her gated community home in the University City suburb of St Louis, Missouri, on August 11, 1998.[1] She was stabbed between 10 times and 43 times with a butcher's knife.[2][3]

Investigation and trial

Police arrested Marcellus Williams (born December 30, 1968)[4] for the crime based on a jailhouse confession to fellow inmate Henry Cole, and testimony of his former girlfriend Lara Asaro for which $10000 was paid.[5] No physical evidence connects Williams to the murder, although the police found some of Gayle's possessions, including her husband's laptop, in the car Williams drove that day.[3] In December, DNA testing results cast fresh doubt on the conviction. On August 15, 2017, the Supreme Court of Missouri summarily denied him a new execution stay, despite recently obtained results of that testing that support his innocence claim.[6][7]

Williams was sentenced to death on August 27, 2001,[8] by St. Louis County Circuit Judge Emmett M. O’Brien.[9] He is held at Potosi Correctional Center and was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on August 22, 2017.[9] A last minute stay of execution was issued by Governor Eric Greitens and a Board of Inquiry was initiated.[10] The Board is headed by Carol E. Jackson and consists of 5 retired judges.[11] It has subpoenaed both prosecution and defense.[12][13] The Board had hearings in August 2018, and Governor Mike Parson will receive the Board's conclusion, and make his decision.[14] As of September 2021 the Board were still looking into new findings.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ritzen, Yarno (August 23, 2017). "Marcellus Williams faces execution despite new evidence". Al Jazeera. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  2. ↑ Kerch, Steve (August 23, 1998). "A Deeply Felt Loss Shows Some Things Cannot Be Rebuilt". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  3. 1 2 Sumter, Angelica N. (January 21, 2005). "Execution Set For St. Louis Man Who Fatally Stabbed Woman 43 Times". Inquisitr. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Missouri Department Of Corrections Offender Search". web.mo.gov. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  5. ↑ Mittman, Jeffrey (August 20, 2017). "Stop the execution of Marcellus Williams". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Missouri Court Denies Condemned Prisoner Stay of Execution, Review of Case Despite Exonerating DNA Evidence". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Marcellus Williams Faces Execution Despite Doubts about Conviction". Amnesty International USA. August 16, 2017. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  8. ↑ Lhotka, William C. (August 28, 2001). "Killer of former reporter is condemned to death". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  9. 1 2 Kohler, Jeremy (August 18, 2017). "Death row inmate asks U.S. Supreme Court to stop his execution for former P-D reporter's murder". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Archived from the original on May 25, 2018. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Marcellus Williams: Missouri governor stays execution". BBC. August 22, 2017. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Missouri governor names panel to examine new DNA evidence in Marcellus Williams' case". 12 September 2017.
  12. ↑ "Marcellus Williams: Board of Inquiry Set to Meet with State and Defence Attorneys in June". 26 April 2018.
  13. ↑ "After governor's resignation, fate of Missouri man on death row in doubt". CBS News. 14 June 2018.
  14. ↑ "Williams death penalty review panel hears new evidence". 22 August 2018.
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