Marcellus Williams was sentenced to death in 2001 for the murder of Felicia Gayle, a former journalist who was found stabbed to death in her St. Louis, Missouri, home.

The 55-year-old man’s lawyers, Ms Gayle’s family, the prosecution and the jurors who convicted him have all since stated that he may not be guilty.

On September 25, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. local time, he was executed by the state of Missouri.

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

His last hope, the US Supreme Court, refused to intervene.

Williams’ case was championed by both the Innocence Project and the Midwest Innocence Project, groups that advocate for people they say have been wrongfully convicted.

One of his attorneys, Tricia Rojo Bushnell of the Midwest Innocence Project, told CNN that the American justice system values ​​”definition over fairness.”

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

‘His feeling that something was wrong grew’

Mrs. Gayle was 42 years old when she was found dead in her St. Louis kitchen on August 11, 1998, after a daytime burglary.

She had been stabbed and cut dozens of times.

Her bag, her husband’s laptop and other belongings were also stolen from the house.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where Ms. Gayle previously worked, police at the time had no official motive, but her husband, a radiologist, was ruled out.

Mrs. Gayle resigned from the newspaper in 1992 and continued volunteering, tutoring and advocacy work.

“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 newspaper.

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

In a 63-page motion filed last month by prosecutor Wesley Bell, he described her husband Daniel Picus’ feeling that something was wrong when he arrived at the couple’s locked home that night.

“As he walked from the garage into the house and up the steps to the back door, he noticed the screen door was closed, but the back door was open,” Mr. Bell wrote.

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

As he opened the door, he got the increasing feeling that something was wrong.

“The kitchen was a ‘mess’. The freezer door was open and everything inside had been ransacked. One of the kitchen drawers was open and a cardboard knife case was strewn across the floor.

“Worried, Dr. Picus called his wife. He got 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.

Key witnesses are said to be ‘known fabrications’

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

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

“(A) prisoner named Henry Cole, a man with a lengthy criminal record, claimed that Mr. Williams confessed to him that he had committed the murder while they were both in prison,” the Innocence Project wrote.

Cole directed police to Laura Asaro, a woman who had had a brief relationship with Mr. Williams and who herself had an extensive criminal record.

“Both individuals were known to be fabricators. Neither of them revealed information that was not in the media about the case or already known to the police.”

The prosecution relied largely on statements made by Asaro and Cole during the first trial.

There was also evidence of racial bias, according to a petition to the Supreme Court written by lawyers for both sides.

The prosecutor “used six of his nine peremptory suppressions to eliminate black jurors, resulting in only one black juror,” they wrote.

“Williams’ conviction and death sentence were obtained through a process rife with constitutional flaws, racism and bad faith, much of which only recently came to light.”

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

Unknown male DNA found on murder weapon

He was originally scheduled to be executed in January 2015.

Days earlier, the Missouri Supreme Court had granted a stay of execution to allow for more DNA testing.

The murder weapon, a knife found in Mrs Gayle’s body at the scene, was not tested for DNA during the first trial.

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

But, the appeal argued, the special judge sent the case back to the state Supreme Court “without holding a hearing or issuing any findings.”

“Three DNA experts independently reviewed the results of that test and concluded that Mr. Williams was not included in the male DNA found on the murder weapon,” the report said.

“He wasn’t the one wielding the knife.

“Yet the Missouri Supreme Court set the execution date for August 22, 2017.”

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

A commission of inquiry was set up to investigate the matter.

Six years later, the commission of inquiry was disbanded by his successor, Governor Mike Parson, without any recommendations being made.

The Public Prosecution Service stated that they received the new DNA results on August 20, 2024.

The unknown male DNA on the knife handle matched that of an assistant district attorney and a former prosecutor’s investigator.

“Both men had filed affidavits claiming they had 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.

Case ‘simmered for decades’ as appeals continued

In August, Williams agreed to file 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.

Rather than admitting guilt, the suspect admits that there is sufficient evidence to find him guilty.

Williams has always maintained his innocence.

Ms Bushnell said at the time that the request ensured that “Mr Williams would remain alive while we continue to gather new evidence”.

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

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

He said the concerns Mr. Bell raised had already been dismissed 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 “rewritten arguments.”

Ms Gayle’s family also pleaded for clemency, telling the court that a life sentence would suffice.

On Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Missouri authorities.

Williams’ final request for clemency was denied.

Governor Parsons said in a statement that he hoped the execution would “bring permanent closure to a case that has been shelved for decades and has re-victimized Ms. Gayle’s family for decades.”

“No jury or court, including the trial court, the appellate court and the Supreme Court, has ever found Mr. Williams’ claims of innocence valid,” he said.

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

According to authorities in Missouri, no family of the victim was present at the execution.

Williams’ son and two of his attorneys were present.

Williams remained innocent until the end

One of Williams’ attorneys said in a statement after the execution that his client had maintained his innocence until his death.

“Although he readily admitted the mistakes he made in his life, he never doubted his innocence of the crime for which he was put to death tonight,” said Larry Komp.

Williams’ case received a lot of media attention during the appeal.

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

An Innocence Project petition calling for a stay of execution has been signed by more than 852,000 people.

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

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

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

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

“How strange it is to become aware of another’s heartbeat, but forget your own – love at last.”