ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Supreme Court has overruled a motion to withdraw a warrant of execution for Marcellus Williams, who awaits another court hearing on his claim of innocence in the murder that landed him on death row.
For now, the state will continue to carry out the execution of Williams as previously scheduled for Sept. 24. However, that could change, as a ruling to determine whether Williams is innocent is set for Aug. 21 in St. Louis County.
Williams, 55, was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1998 stabbing death of Lisha Gayle during a robbery of her suburban St. Louis home.
He was hours away from execution in August 2017 when he was given a reprieve. Former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens halted the process, citing that testing unavailable at the time of the killing showed that DNA on the knife matched someone else, not Williams.
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell filed a motion in January to vacate Williams’ murder conviction. Bell cited the new DNA evidence and said he believed Williams was not involved in Gayle’s death.
“While of course we would prefer that this motion before the Missouri Supreme Court had prevailed and there were no longer an execution date looming for Marcellus Williams, our focus is on the motion we filed before the 21st Judicial Circuit and the effort to have our concerns about the conviction of Mr. Williams heard in court,” said Bell in a statement to FOX 2.
A Missouri law that took effect in 2021 allowed prosecuting attorneys, like Bell, to file a motion to vacate a conviction if they believe an inmate could be innocent or was otherwise erroneously convicted.
Tricia Bushnell, an attorney for Williams, shared the following statement on Friday’s Supreme Court ruling:
“We will continue to pursue justice in the circuit court. We are confident that any court, when presented with all the evidence—including the DNA evidence—will come to the same conclusion as St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell: that Marcellus Williams is innocent and his conviction must be overturned. No court has ever held a hearing to consider all of the exculpatory evidence of innocence. There is still time to right this wrong. No one wants to see Missouri execute an innocent man.”
Before his murder conviction, investigators claimed that Williams broke a windowpane to get inside Gayle’s home on Aug. 11, 1998, heard water running in the shower, and found a large butcher knife. When Gayle came downstairs, she was stabbed 43 times. Her purse and her husband’s laptop were stolen. Gayle was a social worker who previously worked as a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
