Murder of Felicia Gayle

Felicia Gayle Picus (known as Lisha) was a former 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 located 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 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.[4] 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 2016 fresh doubts about the conviction were raised with the results of DNA testing. 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.[5][6]

Williams was sentenced to death in 2001 by St. Louis County Circuit Judge Emmett M. O’Brien.[7] He is held at Potosi Correctional Center and was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on 22 August 2017.[7] A last minute stay of execution was issued by Governor Eric Greitens and a Board of Inquiry was initiated, it is not known what powers the Board will have.[8]

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. ↑ Mittman, Jeffrey (August 20, 2017). "Stop the execution of Marcellus Williams". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Missouri Court Denies Condemned Prisoner Stay of Execution, Review of Case Despite Exonerating DNA Evidence". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Marcellus Williams Faces Execution Despite Doubts about Conviction". Amnesty International USA. August 16, 2017. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  7. 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. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Marcellus Williams: Missouri governor stays execution". BBC. August 22, 2017. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
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