Crime & Safety
University City Ex-Reporter Stabbing: Death Row Inmate Says DNA Clears Him
Former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Lisha Gayle was killed during a burglary at her home in University City.
UNIVERSITY CITY, MO — Attorneys for a Missouri death row inmate slated for lethal injection a week from now say DNA evidence clears him in the 1998 stabbing death of a former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter.
Attorneys for Marcellus Williams are asking the state Supreme Court and Democratic Gov. Eric Greitens to stop Williams' execution Aug. 22. They said Tuesday that testing conducted in December shows DNA found on the knife doesn't match Williams.
Loree Anne Paradise, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Josh Hawley, said the office is still confident he is guilty based on other evidence in the case. Greitens' spokesman, Parker Briden, declined comment, saying only that the claim will need further review.
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Lisha Gayle was killed during a burglary at her home in University City. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)
Photo credit: Missouri Department of Corrections via AP