Felicia Gayle Picus (known as Lisha) was a former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter who was found stabbed to death in her St. Louis, Missouri home during the day on August 11, 1998.

Gayle, 42 years old, was killed during a burglary in her gated community home in the University City suburb of St Louis, Missouri.[1] She was stabbed between 10 times and 43 times with a butcher's knife taken from her kitchen.[2][3]

Life

Felicia Gayle was born and grew up in Rockford, Illinois. She had graduated from University of Illinois with a degree in journalism and made her way in that career. By 1981 she was working as a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where she stayed until 1992. She left the newspaper to pursue more philanthropy and volunteer work. ^[1]

In 1998 Gayle lived with her husband, Dr. Daniel Picus, in a home in University City, a suburb of St Louis, Missouri. They had known each other since childhood in Rockford. He is a radiologist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. She was 42 years old.

Burglary and murder

Gayle was stabbed to death during a daytime burglary at her home on August 11, 1998. ^[2] Someone broke into the house. She was stabbed 43 times with a butcher's knife; seven of the wounds were fatal. ^{[3] [4]} Gayle's purse, her jacket, and her husband's laptop were found to be missing, along with some other minor items.

Investigation and trial

St. Louis County Police did not identify Marcellus Williams (born December 30, 1968) ^[5] as a suspect until late in 1999, and he was arrested from jail in November. ^[3]

In May 1999 Gayle's family announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case. ^[6] Two people contacted police about the case, both of them former inmate Henry Cole volunteered that Williams had made a jailhouse confession to him in 1998, when both were in jail on charges unrelated to the murder. (Williams had started serving a 20-year sentence for robbing a doughnut shop.)

Also in 1999, Williams' former girlfriend, Lara Asaro, gave similar testimony against him. Asaro said that Williams had confessed to her and provided details about the case that weren't public. ^{[7] [8]} Because both of these individuals had other cases that were pending, they had incentive to provide information to police to help them negotiate for relief. ^[7]

The police found items from Gayle's house in the car that Williams had purportedly driven that belonged to his grandfather: a ruler labeled Post-Dispatch and a calculator. They tracked the laptop, which had been sold soon after the burglary. ^[3]

During the trial, the judge had refused to allow testing of some of the DNA evidence found at the scene. Jury selection challenges had resulted in a jury of 11 whites and one African American. Williams was convicted of Gayle's murder in 2001. He was sentenced to death on August 27, 2001, ^[9] by St. Louis County Circuit Judge Emmett M. O’Brien. ^[10]

Death penalty, dates and stays

Williams has been held on death row at Potosi Correctional Center since the end of his trial. He has always maintained his innocence in the Gayle case. He was first scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in 2015.

His case was appealed and the execution was postponed. The defense found that DNA testing of evidence from the scene revealed a unknown male profile on the knife that did not match the DNA of Williams. ^[7]

Williams was scheduled to be executed on August 22, 2017. Questions continued to be raised, as the state Supreme Court would not hear the new DNA evidence nor stay the execution. The prosecutor said they were confident about the case despite the DNA. ^[11] Governor Eric Greitens issued a last-minute stay of execution that day. ^[10]

The governor initiated a Board of Inquiry to examine the new DNA evidence and other aspects of the case. ^[12] The Board was headed by Carol E. Jackson, former federal judge of the Eastern District of Missouri. The Board consists of five retired federal judges to review the case. ^[13] It has subpoenaed both prosecution and defense. ^{[14] [15]} The Board was also to meet with the state and defense attorneys in June 2018. Greitens resigned as governor in June 2018. The DNA evidence and new analysis suggested that another man was a suspect; DNA on the knife did not match that of Williams.

The Board had hearings in August 2018. Governor Mike Parson was to receive the Board's conclusion, and make his decision. ^[16] As of September 2021, the Board were still looking into new findings.

In June 2023 Governor Parsons decided to dissolve the panel of five judges without receiving their report and lifted the stay on Williams' execution. He said it was time for the court to make a decision. ^[1] Later State Attorney General Andrew Bailey asked the state Supreme Court to set a date for Williams' execution. ^{[7] [17]}

2024 Motion to vacate death sentence

On January 26, 2024, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell filed a motion in the St. Louis County Circuit Court, asking the Court to vacate Marcellus Williams’ death sentence. A 2021 Missouri law allows a prosecutor to intervene where there is information suggesting a convicted person may be innocent.

Bell was concerned about the DNA evidence, and aspects of the trial. He cited potential "ineffective assistance of counsel", apparent bias in jury selection, and potential weakness of the police investigation. He asked the Court for a hearing to consider the new evidence and other aspects of the investigation and trial. ^[7]

See also

• List of death row inmates in the United States

References