Marcellus Williams hoped that DNA evidence would be enough to not only clear his name but also secure his release from Missouri’s death row, or possibly even from prison altogether. However, a decades-old error by the prosecutor’s office has left his fate uncertain.
Williams, now 55, is facing execution on September 24 for the 1998 stabbing of Lisha Gayle in University City, a suburb of St. Louis. On Wednesday, St. Louis County Circuit Judge Bruce Hilton will preside over a critical evidentiary hearing that questions Williams’ guilt. The central piece of evidence for Williams is DNA testing, which, unfortunately, is no longer viable.
A Missouri law passed in 2021 allows prosecutors to request the overturning of convictions they believe to be unjust. In January, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell filed such a motion after reviewing new DNA testing unavailable during Williams’ 2001 conviction. The results suggested that Williams’ DNA was not present on the murder weapon. A hearing was initially set for August 21.
However, instead of the hearing, lawyers engaged in lengthy private discussions, after which Matthew Jacober, a special prosecutor for Bell’s office, revealed that the DNA evidence had been contaminated. This contamination made it impossible to prove that someone else might have committed the crime.
New testing conducted last week showed that the DNA of Edward Magee, an investigator for the prosecutor’s office during Williams’ trial, was found on the knife. The testing also couldn’t rule out the involvement of Keith Larner, the original prosecutor in the case.
Jacober informed the judge, “Further investigation and testing showed that the evidence was mishandled during the time of Williams’ conviction. As a result, DNA was likely removed and added between 1998 and 2001.”
This led to a compromise between Williams’ defense team and the prosecutor’s office: Williams would enter a no-contest plea to first-degree murder, resulting in a new sentence of life in prison without parole. Judge Hilton approved the agreement, as did Gayle’s family.
However, the Missouri Attorney General’s Office did not agree.
At the urging of Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey, the Missouri Supreme Court blocked the agreement and instructed Judge Hilton to continue with the evidentiary hearing.
With the execution date now less than four weeks away, Judge Hilton is expected to make a ruling by mid-September.
Williams has previously come close to execution. In August 2017, mere hours before his scheduled lethal injection, then-Governor Eric Greitens, a Republican, issued a stay after DNA testing revealed that the DNA on the knife belonged to an unknown person.
This new evidence led Bell to reopen the case. A prominent figure in Missouri Democratic politics, Bell recently defeated incumbent U.S. Rep. Cori Bush in a primary and is seen as a strong contender in the upcoming November election.
Three other men—Christopher Dunn last month, Lamar Johnson, and Kevin Strickland—have been released after spending decades in prison following successful challenges to their convictions under the 2021 law.
Prosecutors in Williams’ trial argued that he broke into Gayle’s home on August 11, 1998, and discovered a large butcher knife after hearing the water running in the shower. When Gayle came downstairs, she was stabbed 43 times. Her purse and her husband’s laptop were stolen. Gayle was a social worker and a former reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Authorities claimed Williams stole a jacket to cover the blood on his shirt. Williams’ girlfriend questioned why he wore a jacket on a hot day and later saw the laptop in his car, which she said he sold shortly afterward.
Read More: Former Tennessee Officer Charged in Tyre Nichols’ Death Set to Change Plea
Prosecutors also presented testimony from Henry Cole, who shared a cell with Williams in 1999 while Williams was jailed on unrelated charges. Cole claimed that Williams confessed to the murder and provided specific details about the crime.
Williams’ defense attorneys countered that both the girlfriend and Cole were convicted felons motivated by the prospect of a $10,000 reward.
