Marcellus Williams was executed for the murder of Felicia Gayle, despite lawyers, prosecutors and others protesting his innocence

Marcellus Williams was sentenced to death in 2001 for killing Felicia Gayle, a former newspaper reporter who was found stabbed to death in her home in St. Louis, Missouri.

The 55-year-old's lawyers, Ms Gayle's family, the prosecution service and the jury that convicted him have all since spoken out and said he may not be guilty.

On September 25, 2024, at 6 p.m. local time, the State of Missouri executed it anyway.

The execution by lethal injection came after the Missouri Supreme Court and Missouri Governor Mike Parson rejected appeals.

His last hope, the U.S. Supreme Court, refused to intervene.

Williams' case was supported by both the Innocence Project and the Midwest Innocence Project, two groups that advocate for people they believe have been wrongfully convicted.

One of his lawyers, Tricia Rojo Bushnell of the Midwest Innocence Project, told CNN that the U.S. legal system values ​​”finality over fairness.”

“Tonight, Missouri will execute an innocent man,” she said.

“His feeling that something was wrong grew”

Ms. Gayle was 42 years old when she was found dead in her St. Louis kitchen on August 11, 1998, following a burglary in broad daylight.

She had been stabbed and injured dozens of times.

Her handbag, her husband's laptop and other items were also missing from the house.

A report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where Ms. Gayle previously worked, said that while police had no official motive at the time, they had ruled out her husband, a radiologist.

Ms. Gayle resigned from her job at the newspaper in 1992 and devoted herself to volunteer work, tutoring and lobbying.

“She may have been small in stature, but she was never afraid to stand up for what she believed in,” a former colleague told the outlet.

“She put her little feet in those big, clunky shoes and stood her ground.”

In a 63-page motion filed last month, District Attorney Wesley Bell described how her husband, Daniel Picus, felt something was wrong when he arrived at the couple's gated home that evening.

“As he walked from the garage to the house and climbed the stairs to the back door, he noticed that the screen door was closed but the back door was open,” Bell wrote.

“(This was) something he and his wife … would never do, as they always kept their doors closed and locked, even when they were inside.

“When he opened the door, his feeling that something was wrong grew stronger.

“The kitchen was a mess. The freezer door was open and everything inside had been rummaged through. One of the kitchen drawers was open and a cardboard knife cover was scattered on the floor.

“Concerned, Dr. Picus called for his wife. He received no answer.

According to the Innocence Project, the perpetrator left behind “significant forensic evidence,” including fingerprints, footprints and hair.

They also left behind the murder weapon, a knife from Mrs Gayle's kitchen.

Important witnesses are said to be “known forgers”

In May 1999, Ms Gayle's family offered a $10,000 (US$14,523) reward to anyone who could give them answers.

The investigation had stalled until two people came forward and named Williams as the murderer.

“(A) prison inmate named Henry Cole, a man with a long criminal record, claimed that Mr. Williams confessed to the murder while they were both incarcerated in the prison,” the Innocence Project wrote.

“Cole referred police to Laura Asaro, a woman who had briefly dated Mr. Williams and had a long criminal record of her own.

“Both individuals were known forgers. Neither of them disclosed any information that was not either included in the media reports on the case or already known to the police.”

The prosecution relied heavily on testimony from Asaro and Cole in the first trial.

In addition, according to a petition to the Supreme Court written by lawyers from both sides, there are indications of racist prejudice.

The prosecutor “used six of his nine peremptory challenges to exclude black jurors, resulting in only one black member of the jury,” they wrote.

“The conviction and death sentence against Mr. Williams were obtained in a trial riddled with constitutional errors, racism and malice, many of which have only recently come to light.”

Williams, who was already serving a 50-year prison sentence for an unrelated robbery, was sentenced to death on August 27, 2001.

DNA of an unknown man found on the murder weapon

His execution was originally scheduled for January 2015.

Just days earlier, the Missouri Supreme Court had granted a stay of execution to allow for further DNA testing.

The murder weapon, a knife left in Ms Gayle's body at the crime scene, was not tested for DNA during the first trial.

According to the latest appeal, a “special agent” was appointed in 2015 to examine the handle of the weapon for DNA.

However, the appeal alleged that the special counsel sent the case back to the state Supreme Court “without conducting a hearing or announcing findings.”

“However, three DNA experts independently reviewed the results of this test and concluded that Mr. Williams did not match the male DNA left on the murder weapon,” it said.

“He wasn't the one carrying the knife.

“Nevertheless, the Missouri Supreme Court set August 22, 2017 as the execution date.”

Just hours before that date in 2017, then-Missouri Governor Eric Greitens granted Williams a second stay of his execution.

A commission of inquiry was convened to investigate the case.

Six years later, the commission was dissolved by his successor, Governor Mike Parson, without making any recommendations.

Prosecutors said they received new DNA results on August 20, 2024.

The DNA of an unknown man on the knife handle, it was said, matched that of an assistant prosecutor and a former prosecution investigator.

“Both men had filed affidavits claiming they handled the knife without gloves prior to trial, but as of August 2024, there was no evidence to support their claims,” ​​they wrote in their final appeal.

The case was “on hold for decades” while appeals continued

In August, Williams agreed to enter a so-called Alford plea.

An Alford plea, also known as a “best interests plea,” allows a defendant to plead guilty while maintaining his or her innocence.

Instead of admitting guilt, the defendant accepts that there is sufficient evidence to find him guilty.

Williams always maintained his innocence.

A statement from Ms Bushnell at the time said the plea ensured that “Mr Williams will remain alive while we continue to search for new evidence.”

Weeks later, a judge in Missouri upheld Williams' conviction, finding that there was “no basis for a court to find Williams not guilty.”

“Williams is guilty of first-degree murder and was sentenced to death,” Judge Bruce F. Hilton wrote on September 12.

He said the concerns raised by Mr Bell had already been rejected by the Missouri Supreme Court.

He said other arguments, including evidence against Asaro and Cole and evidence suggesting Williams was not the source of the bloody fingerprints and shoe prints at the crime scene, were merely “repackaged arguments.”

Ms Gayle's family also pleaded for a pardon and told the courts that a life sentence would be sufficient.

On Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with the Missouri authorities.

Williams' final plea for clemency was denied.

In a statement, Governor Parsons expressed his hope that the execution would “bring closure to a case that has simmered for decades and has re-victimized Ms. Gayle's family for decades.”

“No jury or court, at the trial, appellate, or Supreme Court level, has ever found Mr. Williams' claims of innocence to be substantiated,” he said.

“Ultimately, his conviction and death sentence were upheld.”

According to Missouri authorities, no member of the victim's family was present at the execution.

Williams' son and two of his lawyers were present.

Williams maintained his innocence until the end

One of Williams' lawyers said in a statement after the execution that his client maintained his innocence until his death.

“Although he readily admitted the mistakes he had made throughout his life, he always maintained his innocence of the crime for which he was executed tonight,” said Larry Komp.

Williams' case received considerable media attention during the appeals process.

According to a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Corrections, about 100 people protested against the death penalty when the execution began.

A petition by the Innocence Project calling for a stay of execution received more than 852,000 signatures.

Other petitions also collected hundreds of thousands of signatures in the run-up to the final request for clemency.

According to his legal team, Williams was a devout Muslim, prison imam and poet.

After his execution, Ms Bushnell shared on social media a poem Williams had written in prison.

“Fireflies dance to the rhythm of the moonlight,” it said.

“How strange it is to be able to hear another’s heartbeat but forget your own – love at last.”