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Last-ditch efforts seek to halt looming execution of Marcellus Williams in Missouri
Two new court filings are again aiming to halt the impending execution of Marcellus Williams, a condemned inmate in Missouri who has maintained his innocence throughout his decades on death row. Williams’ case has drawn support from advocates and some legislators over the years as key evidence used to convict him of murder has been called into question.
The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office will appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court a judge’s ruling upholding the conviction and death sentence for Marcellus Williams, whose execution is one week away.
A notice of appeal filed Monday night did not include any details about the basis for the appeal.
Meanwhile, a clemency petition to Gov. Mike Parson emphasizes how relatives of the murder victim oppose the execution of Williams. And attorneys for Williams on Tuesday asked a federal court to reconsider a previous denial of an appeal alleging that Black prospective jurors were not selected for Williams’ 2001 criminal trial because of their race.
Williams, 55, is set to die by lethal injection next Tuesday. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 2003 for the killing of Felicia Gayle at her home in University City, a suburb of St. Louis, five years earlier. Gayle was a social worker and former reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She was 42 when she died.
Missouri Department of Corrections via AP
During his trial, prosecutors alleged Williams burglarized Gayle’s residence and stabbed her to death, before leaving the home with a jacket used to hide his blood-stained shirt as well as her purse and her husband’s laptop, according to court filings. Williams’s girlfriend testified saying she’d discovered the stained shirt and Gayle’s belongings in the trunk of the car he’d driven to pick her up the day of the murder. She also said Williams confessed to killing Gayle when she confronted him about it, the filings show.
They also alleged Williams confessed during a conversation with a cellmate, Henry Cole, while jailed on unrelated charges in St. Louis. But Williams’ attorneys said both the girlfriend and Cole were convicted felons seeking a $10,000 reward for their testimonies. They have also argued that the jury responsible for convicting Williams, who is Black, was stacked against him as it included only one Black juror.
Years later, a review of the evidence used in Williams’ criminal trial led former St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell to seek a new hearing to consider vacating the murder conviction. Bell said forensic testing on the murder weapon indicated that someone else’s DNA was on the butcher knife used to kill Gayle. Bell brought a challenge before the judge under a 2021 Missouri law that allows prosecutors to review a conviction they believe is unjust.
The Missouri Supreme Court in June set Williams’ execution date for Sept. 24 despite the prosecutor’s efforts, and, days before an Aug. 21 hearing, new testing showed that the DNA evidence was spoiled because members of the prosecutor’s office touched the knife without gloves before the original trial in 2001.
With the DNA evidence unavailable, Midwest Innocence Project attorneys working on behalf of Williams reached a compromise with the prosecutor’s office: Williams would enter a new, no-contest plea to first-degree murder in exchange for a new sentence of life in prison without parole.
Judge Bruce Hilton signed off on the agreement, as did Gayle’s family. But at Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s urging, the Missouri Supreme Court blocked the agreement and ordered Hilton to proceed with an evidentiary hearing.
Hilton ruled on Sept. 12 that the first-degree murder conviction and death sentence would stand.
“Every claim of error Williams has asserted on direct appeal, post-conviction review, and habeas review has been rejected by Missouri’s courts,” Hilton wrote. “There is no basis for a court to find that Williams is innocent, and no court has made such a finding.”
The Midwest Innocence Project provided The Associated Press with a copy of the clemency petition that asks Parson to spare Williams’ life. Parson, a Republican and a former county sheriff, has been in office for 11 executions, and he has never granted clemency.
The petition focuses heavily on how Gayle’s relatives want the sentence commuted to life without parole.
“The family defines closure as Marcellus being allowed to live,” the petition states. “Marcellus’ execution is not necessary.”
A spokesman for Parson said in an email Tuesday that attorneys for the governor’s office have met with Williams’ legal team, and Parson will announce a decision later, typically at least a day before the scheduled execution.
At the August hearing, Assistant Attorney General Michael Spillane said that DNA evidence aside, other evidence pointed to his guilt.
Jim Salter / AP
“They refer to the evidence in this case as being weak. It was overwhelming,” Spillane said.
Also at the hearing, the man who prosecuted Williams, Keith Larner, was asked why the trial jury included just one Black juror. Larner said he struck just three potential Black jurors, including one who he said looked like Williams.
Hayley Bedard, a spokesperson for the Death Penalty Information Center, said there have been no verified instance of an innocent person being executed in the U.S. since capital punishment was reintroduced in 1972, but there have been nearly two dozen people executed “despite strong and credible claims of innocence.”
Williams has been close to execution before. In August 2017, just hours before his scheduled death, then-Gov. Eric Greitens, a Republican, granted a stay after reviewing the same DNA evidence that spurred Bell’s effort to vacate the conviction.
A change.org petition signed by 525,000 people calls for a halt to the execution.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Missouri has carried out 96 state executions and three federal executions since 1976, and five clemencies have been granted in the state.
CBS News
North Carolina governor’s race rocked by CNN report on Mark Robinson’s alleged incendiary comments
Editor’s note: This story contains highly offensive language.
Washington — North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor, posted a slew of incendiary, explicit and racist comments on a pornographic website more than a decade ago, according to a CNN investigation released Thursday that has shaken the state’s gubernatorial race.
The report focused on comments made by an account with the name “minisoldr” on a pornographic website called Nude Africa between 2008 and 2012. The account used the name “mark robinson” in its profile and a number of biographical details posted by the account line up with Robinson’s own history, according to CNN. The network reported that Robinson appeared to use the account name on other platforms over the years, including YouTube and Pinterest, and that the email address associated with the account belonged to Robinson.
On the Nude Africa forum, the user expressed a desire to “bring [slavery] back” and “buy a few” slaves, while identifying himself as a “black NAZI,” according to CNN.
“Slavery is not bad. Some people need to be slaves. I wish they would bring it (slavery) back. I would certainly buy a few,” the account wrote in a discussion about Black Republicans in 2010, according to CNN.
“I like watching tranny on girl porn!” the minisoldr account also posted on Nude Africa, according to CNN. “That’s f****** hot! It takes the man out while leaving the man in! And yeah I’m a ‘perv’ too!”
In March 2012, minisoldr posted a preference for Hitler over former President Barack Obama’s administration: “I’d take Hitler over any of the s*** that’s in Washington right now!”
Minisoldr also used racist language to vilify civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr.
“I’m not in the KKK. They don’t let blacks join. If I was in the KKK I would have called him Martin Lucifer Koon!” the account posted in October 2011, according to CNN.
Reports emerged earlier Thursday that CNN was planning to publish a damaging story that could lead other Republicans to call on Robinson to drop out of the race. In a video posted to X before the CNN story was published, Robinson flatly denied that he said anything in the CNN report and insisted he won’t drop out. North Carolina will begin mailing ballots to members of the military and voters outside the U.S. on Friday.
“The things that you will see in that story, those are not the words of Mark Robinson,” Robinson said in his video. “You know my words, you know my character and you know that I have been completely transparent in this race and before.”
Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Robinson echoed those comments in an interview with CNN. “This is not us. These are not our words. And this is not anything that is characteristic of me,” Robinson said, adding that he wouldn’t “get into the minutia of how somebody manufactured this, these salacious tabloid lies” when presented with evidence that the account belonged to him.
Robinson, who is 56 and married with two children, has a history of inflammatory remarks that have widely circulated since he won the state’s Republican primary in March. Serving as North Carolina’s lieutenant governor since 2021, he gained prominence in Republican circles after he delivered a pro-gun rights speech that went viral and kickstarted his political career. He’s made inflammatory comments across a number of topics — from Islam to abortion to feminism — but he’s been especially vocal on LGBTQ+ issues.
If elected, Robinson would become the first Black governor of North Carolina. Former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Robinson for governor, has referred to him as “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
The lieutenant governor blamed the CNN report on his Democratic opponent, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein.
“You all have seen the half truths and outright lies of Josh Stein,” Robinson said, claiming that Stein leaked the story to CNN.
The report’s release has spurred concern among Republicans about their nominee’s prospects in the coming election. Sen. Ted Budd, a North Carolina Republican, told reporters ahead of its release on Thursday that “North Carolinian voters are smart, and they know how to pick each and every candidate based on their own merits.”
When asked whether Robinson should step down, Budd said he didn’t have enough information.
“They’ve been assaulting him for years,” Budd said before the article was published. “We’re going to gather our facts through the weekend.”
contributed to this report.
Certain boxes of waffles sold at Costco Wholesale stores in the Midwest are being recalled because they may contain plastic, according to a notice by supplier Kodiak Cakes.
The recall involves Kodiak Power Waffles Buttermilk & Vanilla 40 count with the UPC code 705599019203 and a use-by date of Jan. 10, 2026, and only impacts products with the lot code 24193-WL4 and a time stamp of 12:00-23:00, according to the Park City, Utah-based company.
The recalled products were sold at Costco warehouses in 13 states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
The action was initiated “due to the potential presence of soft plastic film,” according to Kodiak, which noted that no injuries or illnesses had been reported.
Those who purchased the recalled product can return it to their local Costco for a refund.
People with questions can email Kodiak at: flapjacks@kodiakcakes.com or call 801-328-4067. Messages will be returned between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mountain time, Monday through Friday.
Tyson Foods is misleading shoppers and investors over its ability to reach “net-zero” carbon emissions by 2050 as well take other steps aimed at protecting the environment.
Tyson, the world’s second-biggest meat processor, should have to curtail its climate claims or release a substantial plan to support its claims, according to a lawsuit filed on Wednesday by the Environmental Working Group. The complaint is part of an effort to “hold the biggest, most powerful contributors to the climate crisis — across industries — accountable for greenwashing,” EWG stated.
Tyson Foods has said since 2021 that it would hit net-zero emissions — the point at which the amount of greenhouse gases a company emits is offset by the emissions that are removed from the atmosphere — by 2050 by using more renewable energy and no longer contributing to deforestation.
The Arkansas-based meat company also sells a brand of “climate-friendly” beef that Tyson says is made with 10% fewer emissions than conventional meat.
A spokesperson said Tyson does not comment on litigation, but defended the company’s “long history of sustainable practices.”
The suit against Tyson was filed in Washington, D.C., which has a consumer protection law in place that lets consumer groups sue companies for false advertising.
The same claim of greenwashing — a term attributed to environmentalist Jay Westerveld that refers to making false or misleading statements about the environmental benefits of a product or service — was made in February in a suit filed by New York State Attorney General Letitia James against JBS, the world’s largest beef producer, over its claim it would reach net-zero emissions by 2040.
James’ suit against the Brazilian meat conglomerate came after Earthjustice successfully challenged JBS’ environmental messaging before an ad industry self-regulatory organization in 2023.
Livestock production accounts for 14.5% of all greenhouse gas emissions globally, with cattle responsible for two-thirds of the total, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
The Science-Based Targets Initiative, a UN-backed agency that reviews net-zero goals, is calling for the food and agricultural sector to reduce its emissions by 3% annually between 2020 and 2030.
Delta Air Lines last year dismissed as “without legal merit” a suit filed by a passenger that alleged the airline’s claim to be “the world’s first carbon-neutral airline” to be marketing spin. Coca-Cola is currently defending itself in a similar case in which the beverage make is accused of overstating its recycling efforts.
North Carolina governor’s race rocked by CNN report on Mark Robinson’s alleged incendiary comments
Costco supplier recalls waffles sold at warehouse stores in 13 states
Tyson Foods misleads shoppers about its carbon emissions, climate group says
North Carolina governor’s race rocked by CNN report on Mark Robinson’s alleged incendiary comments
Costco supplier recalls waffles sold at warehouse stores in 13 states