Update: Missouri Governor Eric Greitens issued a stay of execution for Marcellus Williams amid new DNA evidence. "A sentence of death is the ultimate, permanent punishment," Greitens said in a statement. "To carry out the death penalty, the people of Missouri must have confidence in the judgment of guilt. In light of new information, I am appointing a Board of Inquiry in this case."
A man named Marcellus Williams was convicted in 1998 of stabbing a former St. Louis Post Dispatch reporter. The man is set to be executed by the state of Missouri via lethal injection for the crime. However, news has surfaced saying that the man is innocent based on DNA testing that was done in December 2016. According to an analysis by forensic DNA expert Greg Hampikian, the test proved that the DNA found on the knife used to stab the reporter does not match Williams and that it matches an unknown suspect.
Since then, attorney Kent Gipson filed a brief that asked the U.S. Supreme Court to put a halt to the execution so that new evidence could be looked at. In that new evidence, hair samples from the victim’s shirt along with fingernails that did not belong to Williams would be examined. Also, Williams’ attorneys noted that there was a footprint at the crime scene that does not match their client’s. That should be taken into consideration as well.
The DNA expert commented on the new-found evidence, saying the evidence is not enough to try and convict someone else of the crime, but that the evidence could exclude a man from being wrongly executed.
Source: cnn.com, nypost.com
