
State & Federal
Missouri
News & Developments
News
Nov 30, 2023
DPIC to Release New Report on How the History of Racial Violence and Discrimination Have Shaped the Death Penalty in Missouri

Tomorrow, the Death Penalty Information Center will release a report that documents how racial bias and violence affected the past use of the death penalty in Missouri and how that history continues to influence the current administration of capital punishment in the state. Compromised Justice: How A Legacy of Racial Violence Informs Missouri’s Death Penalty Today, scheduled for release on December 1, 2023, notes that historically and into the present day, Missouri’s death penalty has been applied discriminatorily based on race.
Read MoreNov 10, 2023
A Veterans Day Review: Uneven Progress Understanding the Role of Military Service in Capital Crimes
In 2015, DPIC’s Battle Scars report brought worldwide attention to the issue of military veterans on death row. DPIC found approximately 300 veterans incarcerated under a sentence of death, representing at least 10% of death row, and many more who had been executed. Since that report, research and understanding about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), substance use disorders, and mental illness among veterans has only grown. A 2023 survey of members of the Wounded Warrior Project found that 76% of servicemembers who incurred a mental or physical…
Read MoreSep 13, 2023
When Jurors Do Not Agree, Should a Death Sentence Be Imposed?
In most states, a death sentence may only be imposed by a jury in unanimous agreement. But in two recent cases, defendants faced the possibility of a death sentence despite the objections of jurors.
Read MoreAug 07, 2023
Religious Leaders Explain Why They Minister to Death-Sentenced Prisoners During Executions
Reverend Melissa Potts-Bowers, the spiritual advisor to Michael Tisius, recently described her experience ministering to him during his execution as “quite horrifying — as it’s intended to be.” Mr. Tisius was executed by the state of Missouri on June 6, 2023.
Read MoreAug 01, 2023
8th Circuit Lift Stay of Execution for Death-Sentenced Missouri Prisoner with Schizophrenia
On July 29, 2023, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a temporary stay of execution that had been issued for Johnny Johnson, a death-sentenced prisoner in Missouri. Mr. Johnson’s attorneys allege that he is insane and therefore ineligible for execution. Barring a last-minute stay from the U.S. Supreme Court, Mr. Johnson will be executed by lethal injection on August 1, 2023, for the 2002 killing of 6‑year-old Casey Williamson.
Read MoreJul 07, 2023
Missouri Governor Lifts Stay of Execution for Marcellus Williams, Ending Inquiry of Innocence Claim
On June 29, 2023, Missouri Governor Mike Parson (pictured) lifted the stay of execution for Marcellus Williams, a death-sentenced prisoner convicted of murdering Felisha Gayle, a former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter in 1998. Governor Parson also dissolved the Board of Inquiry, a judicial panel appointed by former Missouri Governor Eric Greitens to review evidence of innocence and provide recommendations on Mr. Williams’s application for executive clemency.
Read MoreJun 06, 2023
Jurors Who Sentenced Michael Tisius to Death Express Regret
Four jurors and two alternates from the 2010 trial of Michael Tisius have said in affidavits that they would support clemency in his case. Mr. Tisius is scheduled to be executed in Missouri on June 6, 2023. In his clemency petition, and in interviews with the New York Times, the jurors said that mitigating evidence that was not presented at trial would have altered their sentencing decisions. (The image to the left is art created by Mr. Tisius and included in his clemency petition.)
Read MoreMay 19, 2023
Missouri Clemency Petition Highlights Prisoner’s Extraordinary Artwork
UPDATE 2: On June 2, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit lifted the stay that had been imposed by the U.S. District Court, saying that the lower court did not have jurisdiction to order the stay.
Read MoreFeb 03, 2023
POSSIBLE INNOCENCE: New Evidence Regarding Missouri Man Facing Execution
Leonard Taylor (pictured) is a Missouri death-row prisoner who was convicted in 2008 of a quadruple murder that occurred in St. Louis in December 2004. His execution is scheduled for February 7, 2023. Taylor has consistently maintained his innocence. Although Taylor’s attorneys have discovered new evidence to substantiate his claim, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell announced that he would not ask a judge to hold an evidentiary hearing in the case.
Read MoreDec 27, 2022
Missouri Set to Execute Amber McLaughlin on January 3 in First U.S. Execution of a Transgender Person
On January 3, 2023, Missouri is set to execute Amber McLaughlin (pictured), the first transgender person scheduled to be put to death in the United States.
Read MoreDec 06, 2022
Midterm Elections: Moratorium Supporters, Reform Prosecutors Post Gains Despite Massive Campaign Efforts to Tie Reformers to Surge in Violent Crime
In a year that featured massive campaign advertising attempting to portray legal reformers as responsible for increases in violent crime, candidates committed to criminal legal reform or who promised to continue statewide moratoria on executions posted key election wins in the 2022 midterm elections. Defying a pre-election narrative forecasting a backlash against progressive prosecutors and conventional wisdom that fear of crime drives political outcomes, reform prosecutors were re-elected to office and gained new footholds in counties across the country.
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History of the Death Penalty
The death penalty was first used in Missouri in 1810 when Peter Johnson was hanged for murder. Missouri carried out a total of 285 executions from 1810 to 1965. Hanging was the primary method of execution until 1936, when lethal gas came into use from 1937 until 1987. Starting in 1987, lethal injection was added as an option for inmates in addition to lethal gas.
Timeline
1989 - In Wilkins v. Missouri, the U.S. Supreme Court finds that capital punishment imposed on a person for a crime committed at 16 or 17 does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the 8th amendment. This decision was reached in consolidation with the case of Stanford v. Kentucky.
2001 - Missouri is the 16th state to ban the execution of prisoners with intellectual disabilities. This bill is not retroactive for those currently on death row.
2003 - Joseph Amrine is exonerated after spending 17 years on death row.
2005 - In Roper v. Simmons, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that the execution of those under the age of 18 at the time of their crime is unconstitutional.
2007 - The Missouri legislature defeats a bill that would have made the death penalty a mandatory sentence for those who murder law enforcement officers.
2011 - Governor Jay Nixon commutes the sentence of Richard Clay.
2012 - The Missouri Department of Corrections announces it is switching from a three-drug lethal injection protocol to a single-drug method involving Propofol. Missouri’s written protocol does not require a physician to be present on the execution team.
2012 - The United States’ main suppler of propofol announces it will not allow the drug to be sold for executions. Fresenius Kabi USA, a German-based company with offices in Illinois, will not accept orders for propofol from any departments of justice in the United States.
2014 - An investigation by St. Louis Public Radio and the St. Louis Beacon found that the source of Missouri’s lethal injection drug, pentobarbital, is a compounding pharmacy in Oklahoma that is not licensed to sell drugs in Missouri.
2015 - Missouri carries out the execution of Cecil Clayton, a brain-damaged man with an IQ of 71, without a hearing to determine his competency.
2016 - Cole County, Missouri Circuit Judge Jon Beetem rules that Missouri must release the names of pharmacies that provide drugs for lethal injection.
2018 - Missouri Judge Kelly Wayne Parker imposes the death penalty on Marvin Rice, disregarding the near-unanimous jury vote to spare his life. Four months later, Missouri Judge Thomas Mountjoy sentences Craig Wood to death after a non-unanimous jury vote.
2019 - In Bucklew v. Precythe, the U.S. Supreme Court holds that any challenges to the state’s method of execution on the basis of excessive pain must include alternative methods of execution that are less painful. The court affirm that the 8th Amendment does not guarantee a painless death and only punishments that “intensify the sentence of death” with a “superaddition of terror, pain, or disgrace” can be classified as cruel and unusual.
2023 - Missouri carries out the first known execution of an openly transgender woman, Amber McLaughlin.
Famous Cases
Roper v. Simmons (2005): Christopher Simmons was 17 years old when he and two other teenagers, broke into the home of Shirley Crook, kidnapped her, and pushed her off a bridge into the Meremac River. Simmons bragged about the murder to friends, and eventually confessed to police. He was convicted of the crime and sentenced to death. Simmons appealed the death sentence on the basis that he was only 17 years old at the time of the crime, and the execution of a juvenile was cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled in favor of Simmons, overturning his death sentence and sentencing him to life in prison without parole. The State of Missouri appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court ruled that execution of individuals who were under 18 at the time of their crime was unconstitutional. In its decision, the Court noted a “national consensus” against the practice of executing juvenile offenders; just 20 states allowed the juvenile death penalty by statute, and only 3 had executed a juvenile offender in the last 10 years.
Notable Exonerations
Joseph Amrine was serving time for robbery and burglary in Missouri State Penitentiary when he was accused of stabbing fellow inmate Gary Barber, in 1986. No physical evidence linked Amrine to the crime, and he was convicted primarily based on tesimony from other inmates and was sentenced to death. Amrine appealed his death sentence and the Missouri Surpreme Court found “clear and convincing evidence of actual innocence.” Three inmates who had previously testified recanted their statements, saying they lied in exchange for protection. Six other inmates testified to seeing Amrine playing cards at the time of the murder. The court ordered that Amrine be released within 30 days unless he was charged with another crime. Missouri prosecutor Bill Tackett brought new murder charges on Amrine, but dropped the charges a month later after DNA tests conducted on blood stains from the crime were inconclusive. Amrine was freed in August 2003.
Notable Commutations/Clemencies
Darrell Mease was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of his former drug partner, Lloyd Lawrence, Lawrence’s wife, and Lawrence’s grandson. He was scheduled to be executed in 1999. Pope John Paul II was visiting Missouri at the time and made a personal plea to Governor Carnahan to grant Mease mercy. The day before Mease’s execution, Governor Carnahan granted Mease clemency, commuting his sentence to life without parole.

Resources
- American Bar Association Missouri Death Penalty Assessment Report
- Department of Corrections
- Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
- Missouri Office of Prosecution Services
- Public defender’s office
- Victims’ services
- Missouri Death Row
- 2015 Annual Report from Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
