CBS News
Inmate tries to prove innocence as execution looms 26 years after murder of former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter
Testimony begins Wednesday in a hearing with life-or-death implications for Missouri inmate Marcellus Williams.
The case before St. Louis County Circuit Judge Bruce Hilton is on a motion filed by Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell seeking to vacate Williams’ 1998 murder conviction. Time is of the essence: Williams is scheduled to be executed Sept. 24, and neither Missouri Gov. Mike Parson nor Attorney General Andrew Bailey has shown any inclination to delay the process.
Williams, 55, was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1998 stabbing death of Lisha Gayle. He was hours away from execution in August 2017 when then-Gov. Eric Greitens, a Republican, granted a stay after DNA testing unavailable at the time of the killing showed that DNA on the knife matched someone else, not Williams.
That evidence prompted Bell to reexamine the case.
“This never-before-considered evidence, when paired with the relative paucity of other, credible evidence supporting guilt, as well as additional considerations of ineffective assistance of counsel and racial discrimination in jury selection, casts inexorable doubt on Mr. Williams’s conviction and sentence,” Bell’s motion states.
Missouri Department of Corrections via AP, File
Williams, who is Black, was convicted and sentenced to death by a jury consisting of 11 white people and one Black person. In addition to first degree murder, Williams has been convicted of burglary, assault and attempted armed robbery.
Bailey, a Republican, stated in a June court filing that “evidence supporting conviction at trial was overwhelming,” despite the new DNA claims.
Innocence Project co-founder Barry Scheck said in 2018 that he believes there is “enough doubt in the case that his sentence should at least be commuted.”
A 2021 Missouri law allows prosecuting attorneys to file a motion seeking to vacate a conviction they believe was unjust. The law has resulted in exonerations of three men who spent decades in prison, including Christopher Dunn last month.
Typically, a judge hears a few days of testimony then takes up to two months to weigh the evidence. Hilton won’t have the luxury of time though: Williams’ execution is 34 days away.
The Missouri Supreme Court set the September execution date on June 4, hours after it ruled that Parson, a Republican, was within his rights when he dissolved a board of inquiry convened by Greitens after he stopped the 2017 execution.
The inquiry board, consisting of five retired judges, never issued a ruling or reached a conclusion on whether the new DNA evidence exonerated Williams. Parson dissolved the board in June 2023, saying it was time to “move forward.”
Johnathan Shiflett, spokesperson for Parson, said the governor “will give thoughtful consideration to the question of clemency for Mr. Williams, just as he has for all other capital punishment cases during his tenure, but no decision has been made at this time.” Parson, a former county sheriff, has been governor for 11 executions and never granted clemency.
Jeff Roberson / AP
In addition to Dunn, who spent 34 years behind bars for the death of a 15-year-old St. Louis boy, the Missouri law allowing prosecutors to challenge convictions led to freedom for two other men — Kevin Strickland and Lamar Johnson. Bailey was not attorney general when Strickland’s case went to a hearing, but his office opposed vacating the convictions of Dunn and Johnson.
Bailey also opposed efforts to overturn the conviction of Sandra Hemme, who spent 43 years in prison for murder, though that case was adjudicated through appeals, not a prosecutor’s motion. A judge ruled in June that Hemme should be freed. Bailey filed multiple appeals to try and keep her behind bars, but Hemme was released in July.
Strickland was freed in 2021 after serving more than 40 years for three killings in Kansas City after a judge ruled he had been wrongfully convicted in 1979. In 2023, a St. Louis judge overturned Johnson’s conviction. He served nearly 28 years for a killing he always said he didn’t commit.
Williams is the first death row inmate whose innocence claim will go before a judge since passage of the 2021 law. He’s getting support from another former condemned inmate. Joseph Amrine spent 17 years on death row before he was freed in 2003 after the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that no credible evidence linked him to the killing of another inmate.
“The state has nothing to gain by killing the wrong person,” Amrine said in a statement. “I hope the Attorney General’s office can change their approach and acknowledge there are human beings impacted by their actions.”
Prosecutors at Williams’ trial said he broke into Gayle’s suburban St. Louis 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, who was White, was a social worker who previously worked as a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Authorities said Williams stole a jacket to conceal blood on his shirt. Williams’ girlfriend asked him why he would wear a jacket on a hot day. The girlfriend said she later saw the laptop in the car and that Williams sold it a day or two later. CBS News previously reported that police found Gayle’s clothing and her husband’s computer in Williams’ car.
Prosecutors also cited testimony from Henry Cole, who shared a St. Louis cell with Williams in 1999 while Williams was jailed on unrelated charges. Cole told prosecutors Williams confessed to the killing and offered details about it.
Williams’ attorneys responded that the girlfriend and Cole were both convicted felons out for a $10,000 reward.
President-elect Donald Trump’s criminal conviction in state court remains on the books Monday, after a New York judge rejected an effort by Trump to have the case tossed based on a landmark Supreme Court ruling.
Justice Juan Merchan found that a July Supreme Court ruling granting Trump presidential immunity for official acts did not preclude a jury from finding him guilty after a criminal trial this spring.
Merchan wrote that evidence shown at trial pertained “entirely to unofficial conduct.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
As unexplained drone sightings along the East Coast trigger investigations and demands from officials for more information, a wave of online speculation has filled the void as amateur sleuths seek to solve the mystery themselves.
One Facebook group called “New Jersey Mystery Drones – let’s solve it” has surged to over 73,000 members in recent days, becoming a hub for users to share their drone sightings and speculate on the source of the mysterious activity.
George Gary, a New Jersey resident who joined the Facebook group, told CBS News that he was sitting in his car in Moorestown when he saw what he said were “multiple drones” in the sky. “I’m honestly not sure what’s behind them,” he said, speculating that it could be connected to government activity. “I’m really curious to find out.”
New Jersey resident Vanessa Grierson, who also said she has seen drones, told CBS News she joined the Facebook group to find out what others were seeing. “It’s alarming that there are still no answers,” she said.
Across social media, users have shared theories that range from foreign interference to UFOs to hobbyist activity.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a joint statement last week saying there is “no evidence at this time” that the reported drone sightings pose a threat to national security or public safety, or have any foreign connection.
But state and local leaders have been pushing for more information and a stronger response.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Sunday he is urging federal authorities to allocate more resources to investigate the sightings, while New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that a drone detection system is being deployed in the state.
In some cases, people mistake planes for drones
The number of drones flying over the East Coast and the identity of those behind the activity remain unclear. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said Monday that the FBI has received about 5,000 tips of reported drone sightings in the last few weeks, “about 100 of which they felt needed to be followed up on.”
Authorities say many of the reported drone sightings could be aircraft or helicopters operating from the region’s numerous airports, as residents increasingly turn their attention to the skies in search of answers.
New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim said he went on patrol with police on Thursday night to find out more about the drones. In a lengthy X thread, Kim said he “concluded that most of the possible drone sightings that were pointed out to me were almost certainly planes.”
Kirby said many other reports were determined to be “a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones and law enforcement drones.”
In addition, unrelated videos have sparked confusion. On Friday, a video was widely shared and said to show a mysterious drone seemingly “shooting” at the ground. However, CBS News traced the footage to a military training exercise at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.
People have also shared old videos from different contexts. One widely shared clip, allegedly showing drones over New York, is at least four years old.
Officials respond
Rep. Mike Waltz, a Republican from Florida who is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for national security adviser, said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that the lack of information highlights lapses in authority between local law enforcement and federal agencies like the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security.
“I think Americans are finding it hard to believe we can’t figure out where these are coming from,” Waltz said. “It’s pointing to gaps in our capabilities and in our ability to clamp down on what’s going on here. And we need to get to the bottom of it.”
Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey said there is a “growing sense of uncertainty and urgency across the state” despite statements from federal investigators assuring residents that the drones do not pose public safety threats.
“As such, I urge you to share any relevant information about these drone sightings with the public,” Booker said. “Without transparency, I believe that rumors, fear, and misinformation will continue to spread.”
Shooting down drones?
Some social media users have suggested that they plan to shoot down the drones if they veer too close to their homes. President-elect Trump also suggested shooting down the drones, though he did not clarify who should take such action.
However, shooting down a drone is a federal crime.
The Federal Aviation Administration classifies drones as aircraft, meaning damaging or destroying them is a violation of the Aircraft Sabotage Act.
Beyond legal risks, firing at drones poses a serious safety hazard and could lead to injuries.
Washington — President-elect Trump is meeting with TikTok CEO Shou Chew on Monday at his Mar-a-Lago estate, according to sources familiar with the meeting.
The news was first reported by CNN.
A spokesperson for TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference earlier Monday, Trump had warm words about TikTok and its near-term future.
“We’ll take a look at TikTok. You know, I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok, because I won youth by 34 points. And there are those that say that TikTok has something to do with that,” Trump said when asked about how he would stop a ban. Harris won 54% of voters under 30, but Trump made inroads.
During his first term in the White House, Trump tried to ban the app.
President Biden earlier this year signed into law a bill passed by Congress requiring TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, face a Jan. 19 deadline to cut ties or be banned in the U.S. The companies have tried to delay the deadline pending a Supreme Court review, but a federal appeals court, which upheld the law, denied the request last week. The companies asked the Supreme Court on Monday to temporarily pause the law.
“A modest delay in enforcing the Act will create breathing room for this Court to conduct an orderly review and the new Administration to evaluate this matter — before this vital channel for Americans to communicate with their fellow citizens and the world is closed,” the emergency application said.
The filing asked the Supreme Court to make a decision on the request by Jan. 6 so ByteDance and TikTok can “coordinate with their service providers to perform the complex task of shutting down the TikTok platform only in the United States” if the justices decline.
A 90-day extension could be granted if a sale is in process by the deadline. But TikTok has argued that a sale is unfeasible and the Chinese government opposes the sale of the algorithm which powers the app.
