Case Summary
On Tuesday September 24, 2024, Imam Marcellus Williams, a 55-year-old African American Muslim, was executed by lethal injection in Missouri, USA.
This article provides an unbiased account of the facts surrounding his case.
Background
Imam Marcellus Williams was convicted of the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle, a 42-year-old woman. Williams was convicted in 2001 of killing Felicia Gayle, a former newspaper reporter found stabbed to death in her home in 1998. Williams was arrested, charged, and sentenced to death.
Controversies and Concerns
Several concerns raised questions about Williams’ guilt and the fairness of his trial:
1. DNA Evidence: DNA testing revealed an unknown male’s DNA on Gayle’s clothing, which didn’t match Williams. Recently, the top prosecutor in St. Louis County joined Williams’ attorneys in asking for the conviction to be overturned after new testimony from the 2001 trial prosecutor and recent DNA testing showed evidence contamination.
2. Questionable Eyewitness Testimony: Key witnesses recanted and changed their statements. Williams girlfriend, Laura Asaro recanted and said police forced her to make evidence against Williams.
3. Racial Bias: Allegations of racial bias in jury selection. Prosecutor had improperly rejected Black potential jurors, resulting in a jury with 11 white members and one Black member. Prosecutor Keith Larner said that he had excluded a potential Black juror because of how similar they were, saying, “They looked like they were brothers. Experts have said that racism remains a significant issue in the US, and could have played a role in this case.
4. Ineffective Counsel: Claims of inadequate representation had also been raised though when the execution became imminent, Imam Williams’ attorneys had filed a flurry of appeal efforts based on as new evidence at their disposal – including alleged bias in jury selection and contamination of the murder weapon prior to trial. However, Missouri’s supreme court and Governor refused to grant a stay of execution. US Supreme Court also refused a stay of execution. However, the Missouri Supreme Court unanimously decided not to halt Williams’ execution because his team according to the court “failed to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence Williams’ actual innocence or constitutional error at the original criminal trial that undermines the confidence in the judgment of the original criminal trial,” the court’s opinion read.
5. The Prosecutor and the Victim’s family and even the Jurors who sentenced him to deaths don’t want him executed.
Last moments and Execution
Despite pleas for clemency from human rights organizations, Williams was executed. He spents his last moments with Imam Jalahii Kacem and interacted for about one and a half hour. He had also taken chicken wings and tater tots as his final meal.The lethal injection was administered at 6:01 p.m. and Williams was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. Williams’ last statement, witnessed on September 21, was “All Praise Be to Allah In Every Situation!!!”
Williams and Islam
Williams was a devout Muslim, an imam for prisoners and a poet, according to his legal team. He spent 23 years in prison and he devoted much of his time to studying Islam and writing poetry. He became religious while in prison. His prison mate nicknamed him ‘Khalifah’, literally meaning ‘Leader’. Imam Williams wished he had known Islam earlier.
Evidences used against Imam Marcellus Williams.
During the trial, prosecutors said that Williams broke into her home on August 11, 1998, noticed the shower running and picked up a large butcher knife. When Gayle came downstairs, she was stabbed 43 times, and her purse and her husband’s laptop were stolen.
Authorities said that during that day, Williams wore a jacket to hide blood on his shirt. His girlfriend questioned why he would wear a jacket on such a hot day and later saw the stolen purse and laptop in his car. Williams sold the laptop a day or two afterwards.
Prosecutor also brought evidence from Henry Cole who shared a cell with Williams, that Williams had confessed to the murder to him and provided specific details.
Arguments from Williams Lawyers
Serious doubts were cast on the evidence above as Lawyers proved no forensic evidence linked Williams to the crime scene. The DNA evidence provided was disproved and testing showed that DNA on the knife belonged to members of the prosecutors’ office who handled it without gloves after the original crime lab tests.
Motive for the evidence given by Williams girlfriend, Laura Asaro, and Henry Cole were called to question as both had felony conviction and were seeking a $10000 reward. Williams indeed sold a laptop stolen from Gayle’s house but there was evidence that it was received from the girlfriend. Laura actually recanted her evidence stating that it came from Police coercion. Henry on his part, had been known to previously lie under oath and had received favourable treatment from prosecutors for his testimony. Both Henry Cole and Williams girlfriend died in 2001, eliminating further investigation into their credibility.
Imam Williams maintained his innocence
Throughout the trial, Imam Williams maintained his innocence. Welsey Bells, the Prosecuting attorney issued a statement on the execution . He said on his X handle ” Marcellus Williams should be alive today. There were multiple points in the timeline that decisions could have been made that would have spared him the death penalty. If there is even the shadow of a doubt of innocence the death penalty should never be an option. This outcome did not serve the interests of justice”.
