902 S.W. 2d 278 (Mo.banc 1995)

Vernon Brown was executed at 2:35 a.m., May 18, 2005.

Case Facts: On October 24, 1986, nine-year old Janet Perkins left the Cole Schoot in north St. Louis around 3:00 p.m. and walked toward her home three and a half blocks away. She generally took the same route each day, west on Enright Avenue. Under normal circumstances, the trip took Less than 15 minutes.
        
Vernon Brown, who was then using the name Thomas Tur rier, had picked up his stepsons from Cole School and returned to their home on Enright Avenue in time to see Janet walking past. Brown called to her and ultimately enticed her to enter the house.
        
Browns stepsons saw Janet enter the house. A neighbor’s relative saw Brown on the front porch and Janet walking up the steps to the house, Brown ordered the stepsons to their bedroom and locked the door from the outside. Despite Browns claims that at this point he began suffering PCP-induced blackouts, Brown’s own statements, the testimony of his stepsons, and the physical evidence show that he took Janet to the basement of the house and bound her feet and one hand with a wire coat hanger, forcing her into a crouched position that permitted her head to reach the height of Brown’s genitalia. Brown then strangled Janet to death with a rope.
        
The next day, law enforcement authorities found Janet’a body in two trash bags near a dumpster in an alley behind Brown’s house. Further investigation raised suspicion about Brown. When suspicion turned to probable cause, St. Louis police arrested Brown on October 27, 1986, confronted him with their evidence, including testimony of a neighbor who had seen Janet enter Brown’s house, and asked Brown to tell them where to find Janet’s missing shoe, raincoat and school papers. Brown led police to a different dumpster in which they found a bag containing Janet’s missing property.
        
Brown made a videotaped statement implicating himself as Janet’s killer. In a subsequent statement, Brown also admitted killing Synetta Ford, a woman who had been murdered on March 7, 1985.

Updated from Missouri Department of Corrections documents on May 18, 2005.

Legal Chronology

1986
10/24 – Vernon Brown murders Janet Perkins in St. Louis, Missouri.
11/18 – Brown is charged by indictment with two counts of First Degree Murder, including kthe 1985 murder of Synetta Ford.

1988
10/27 – The jury returns a verdict of guilty of Murder 1st Degree.
10/31 – The jury returns a death sentence.
12/13 – The Circuit Court of St. Louis City sentences Brown to death for the Janet Perkins murder conviction.            

1989
07/06 – Brown files a post-conviction relief motion in the circuit court of St. Louis City.

1994
03/08 – Circuit court denies post-conviction relief motion.

1995
07/20 – The Missouri Supreme Court affirms Brown’s conviction and sentence and the denial of post-conviction relief. State v. Brown, 902 S.W. 2d 278 (Mo.banc 1995).
12/11 – The United State Supreme Court denies certiorari review. Brown v. Missouri, 516 U. S. 1031 (1995).
12/11 – Brown files a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the United State District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

2000     
07/05 – The District Court denies the petition for writ of habeas corpus.

2001
02/23 – The Court of Appeals affirms the denial of habeas relief.

2002
02/19 – The U.S. Supreme Court denies discretionary review. Brown v. Luebbers, 5340 U. s. 1135 (2002).
02/25 – The State requests the Missouri Supreme Court to set an execution date.

2005
04/15 – Missouri Supreme Court sets Brown’s execution date of May 18, 2005.

955 S.W. 2d 198 (Mo.banc 1997) 

Stanley Hall was executed at 12:06 a.m., March 16, 2005.

Case Facts: On the evening of January 15, 1994, Stanley Hall and Rance Burton borrowed a car and drove to the South County Shopping Center in St. Louis, Missouri. They were searching for a vehicle to steal. Hall and Burton got out of their car and approached Barbara Jo Wood’s car as she pulled into the parking lot. They forced her at gunpoint to the passenger side and then drove her in her car to the McKinley Bridge.

Wood was forced out of the car, and there was a struggle on the bridge. At some point she was wounded. Witnesses in a passing car saw her bleeding. Burton got back in Wood’s car and drove away. Wood, pleading for her life was still holding on to Hall as he tried to lift her over the bridge railing. He eventually succeeded, and Wood fell ninety feet to the river.

Meanwhile, the two witnesses in the car had notified the Venice, Illinois police department. The police arrived and captured Hall moments after he pushed Wood off the bridge. The icy condition of the river impeded search and rescue attempts.

Both witnesses identified Hall as the man they has seen struggling with Wood. After waiving his Miranda rights, Hall identified Barbara Jo Wood from a picture as the woman he had forced over the guardrail. Seven-and-a-half months later, the lower portion of a torso matching Wood’s physical condition was found in the Mississippi River.

942 S.W.2d 342 (Mo.banc 1997)

Audio 1:40 Missouri Corrections Director Gary Kempker briefing reporters following the execution of Daniel Basile.

Audio 1 min Jim Vaniseghem of St. Louis, brother of murder victim Elizabeth DeCaro, reading a statement from the family.

Friends and family of Daniel Basile speaking to reporters from the Missourinet and the Associated Press following the execution. Participants included:

Dennis Watson, the grandfather of Basile’s nine-year old daughter; Lisa Owsley, Wentzville, longtime friend of Daniel Basile; Julie Ferranto, St.Louis, niece of Basile; Terra Murray, St. Charles, sister of Daniel Basile; Desiree Trousdale, Jackson, sister of Daniel Basile; Captain Jeff Militti, army chaplain who was Basile’s spiritual advisor, whose mother often took care of Basile when he was a child. Militti is at home on emergency leave from South Korea.Also heard briefly is Tina Addison, mother of Basile’s daughter. Audio 15:00

Case Facts: On January 10, 1992 Richard DeCaro had a conversation with James Torregrossa in which he asked if he knew of anyone who could “put a hit on somebody.” DeCaro told Torregrossa that he was not happy in his marriage.

On January 20, 1992 DeCaro purchased a $100,000 insurance policy on his wife, Elizabeth, listing himself as the primary beneficiary. On January 26, 1992 DeCaro struck his wife with their van knocking her through the garage wall into the kitchen. DeCaro received over $30,000 from the insurance company as a result of the incident.

In January 1992 DeCaro asked Craig Wells, manager of a gas station, if he knew anyone who could steal his van. Wells introduced DeCaro to Daniel Basile. When the two met DeCaro offered Basile $15,000 to steal his van and kill Elizabeth. On February 8, 1992 Basile stole the van, drove it to Jackson, Missouri and burned it. He received $200 for the job.

On February 28, 1992 Basile asked his friend, Jeffrey Niehaus for a stolen gun that was not traceable. On March 4, Basile showed his half-brother, Doug Meyer, a .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol with pearl-like grips.

On March 6, 1992 Richard DeCaro took his four children to the Lake of the Ozarks and checked into the Holiday Inn at 2:59 p.m. Between 2:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. a witness noticed the DeCaro garage door was closed. Elizabeth DeCaro left work at 2:20 p.m. At 3:00 p.m. a neighbor noticed the garage door was open and the DeCaros’ Chevy Blazer with license plates “RIK-LIZ” was in the garage. The neighbor stopped by and rang the doorbell, but no one answered.

At 4:15 p.m. Basile was seen driving the DeCaros’ Blazer in St. Charles. That evening around 6:30 p.m. Basile called an ex-roomate for a ride stating that “things went down… I did what I had to do.” Basile then called Doug Meyer to see if he had garage space where Basile could work on his car. Basile drove the Blazer to a friend’s house and gave him a “boom box” stereo taken from the DeCaro home. Basile told the friend that he “did this lady.” At 10:30 p.m. Basile drove the Blazer to Meyer’s house.

When Elizabeth DeCaro failed to show up at her sister’s home for dinner and did not answer her telephone, her sister and a mutual friend went to the DeCaro residence. They went through a side door in the garage and found Elizabeth DeCaro lying face down on the kitchen floor.

Police found Mrs. DeCaro with two gunshot wounds in the back of her neck and bruises on her body. When she was shot the gun was in contact with her body and she was either kneeling or lying down. The bullets recovered from her body were .22 caliber. Police found no signs of a forced entry and observed that audio-visual equipment was missing from the home.

On March 7, 1992 Basile called Craig Wells and stated, “It looks like I got set up.” On March 9, Meyer found the DeCaros’ dismantled Blazer in the garage he provided for Basile. Meyer confronted Basile and Basile told him it was “either him or her,” and that he wasn’t going back to prison. On March 11, Meyer contacted the police. Basile was arrested on March 12, 1992 and charged with Murder First Degree.