‘Grotesque’: United States accused of executing an innocent man

The US has executed a man who was convicted of murder, despite opposition from the victim’s family and suggestions he was in fact innocent.

The United States has executed a man who was convicted of murder in 2001, despite opposition from both the victim’s family and the office that prosecuted him, which now believes he was innocent.

Marcellus Williams, 55, was killed by lethal injection in St Louis, Missouri today.

The state’s Attorney-General, Republican Andrew Bailey, insisted that the execution go ahead, against the advice of St Louis County’s prosecutors.

Williams was convicted of killing a social worker and former journalist, Lisha Gayle, in 1998. The jury, at that time, accepted that he had broken into Ms Gayle’s house, stolen her property, and stabbed her to death.

Despite their verdict, some of the jurors in the case were among those actively opposing Williams’ execution before it happened on Tuesday, local time.

Marcellus Williams has been put to death.

No forensic evidence ever linked Williams to the crime, and over the years, new information has led prosecutors to believe they got the wrong man.

His death was witnessed by his son and two of his lawyers.

“We must all question any system that would allow this to occur,” one of those lawyers, Tricia Rojo Bushnell, said just before the execution was carried out.

“The execution of an innocent person is the most extreme manifestation of Missouri’s obsession with ‘finality’ over truth, just and humanity at any cost.

“Tonight, we all bear witness to Missouri’s grotesque exercise of state power. Let it not be in vain. This should never happen, and we must not let it continue.”

Williams, who was Muslim and served as an Imam for his fellow inmates, welcomed his death by saying, “all praise be to Allah”.

Marcellus Williams and his alleged victim, Lisha Gayle.

William’s execution was twice delayed in the past, in both January of 2015 and August of 2017. In the former case, the state’s Supreme Court granted his lawyers more time in which to test DNA evidence. In the latter, Republican governor Eric Greitens granted a reprieve.

The catalyst for that decision was new DNA testing on the alleged murder weapon, a knife, which showed no trace of Williams.

Mr Greitens created a panel to review Williams’ case. His successor, the current Governor Mike Parson, ditched it, and pressed forward with the plans to execute the defendant.

Mr Parson did so despite the advice of the county’s top prosecutor, Wesley Bell.

“Ms Gayle’s murderer left behind considerable physical evidence. None of that physical evidence can be tied to Mr Williams,” Mr Bell’s office said.

“New evidence suggests that Mr Williams is actually innocent.”

“Marcellus Williams should be alive,” Mr Bell said in a statement after his death.

“This outcome did not serve the interests of justice.”

Marcellus Williams,

An agreement reached last month between prosecutors and Williams would have seen his execution delayed, with him pleading no contest to a charge of first-degree murder and, in return, receiving a sentence of life in prison.

Missouri’s attorney-general challenged that deal, and it was ultimately overturned by the state’s Supreme Court. Combined efforts from both Williams’ team and prosecutors in the days leading up to his lethal injection were rebuffed.

The aforementioned agreement had the approval of Ms Gayle’s family.

One last attempt to save Williams’ life, a request for clemency from Mr Parson using his gubernatorial powers, was also rejected. At a federal level, the US Supreme Court refused to intervene, despite the dissent of three progressive justices.

Counting against Williams was evidence from a cellmate who claimed he had confessed to the murder. His lawyers argued this witness was unreliable, citing a $10,000 reward that had been offered for information relating to the murder.

In addition, multiple courts have upheld his conviction over the years.

Marcellus Williams. Picture: AFP

Derrick Johnson, President of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), has accused Missouri of “lynching another innocent black man”, hearkening back to America’s racial troubles from decades past.

“We have a moral imperative to abolish this racist and inhumane practice,” Mr Johnson said of the death penalty.

Ms Bushnell described Williams as a “kind and thoughtful man”.

“While he yearned to return home, he worked hard to move beyond the anger, frustration, and fear of wrongful execution, channelling his energy into his faith and finding meaning.

“The world will be a worse place without him.”

Governor Parson has been accused of “ignoring” the will of Ms Gayle’s family.