The State Supreme Court has upheld the execution sentence for Roderick Nunley, convicted of first-degree murder. His execution is set for Oct. 20, 2010. Nunley is accused of raping and killing a 15-year-old girl in Kansas City.
Penalty phase retrial for Michael Tisius
July 13, 2010 By
The slaying of two Randolph County jailers a decade ago was again detailed this morning in Boone County Circuit Court, during a penalty phase retrial for convicted murderer Michael Tisius.
The defendant, 29, was sentenced to death after a jury convicted him on two counts of first-degree murder in 2001 in Boone County Circuit Court. The retrial concerns only Tisius’ sentence, not the conviction.
MO Supreme Court upholds death penalty in “sex tape” murder
June 29, 2010 By
The state Supreme Court has upheld the conviction and death sentence of a man involved in one of the Kansas City area’s most sensational recent murder cases.
Richard Davis was convicted of murdering a woman he and his girlfriend, Dena Riley, had sexually abused and killed. Jurors saw a videotape that showed Davis and Riley suffocating Independence resident Marsha Spicer.
All seven judges agree the trial court made none of the mistakes Davis claims it made. The court split on two other points in the case but upheld the trial court’s decision on each issue.
Riley, the girlfriend, is in prison for life without parole.
Story by Bob Priddy, Missourinet
Briefs, summaries of the written arguments and link to the audio of the oral arguments »
Gary Black enters plea to avoid death penalty
May 6, 2010 By
“To avoid the possibility of another death sentence at his third trial this summer, Gary W. Black this week sought and obtained a plea bargain that will keep him locked up for the rest of his life for the 1998 stabbing death of Jason Johnson.
Black, 54, entered an Alford plea Wednesday in Jasper County Circuit Court to the first-degree murder charge he has been facing for 12 years.
Black was twice convicted of the charge and twice sentenced to die by Jasper County juries. Both convictions were overturned by the Missouri Supreme Court, and a third capital-murder trial was set to begin in late July, with selection of jurors from Cass County.”
Anti-death penalty advocates say Clemons case raises questions
March 11, 2010 By
The discovery of long-hidden evidence in a 19-year old murder case fuels hopes of death penalty opponents that the state will declare a moratorium on executions for two years. Reginald Clemons, Marlin Gray, and two others were convicted in 1993 of the rapes and murders of two St. Louis sisters who were thrown off a St. Louis bridge into the Mississippi River. Gray was executed five years ago. Clemons would have been executed last June but a stay was issued and a special judge is reviewing the case.
A few days ago, three lab reports and some physical evidence was discovered in the St. Louis police crime lab and says the evidence had been disclosed to the defense.
Executive Director Donnie Morehouse of Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty says the discovery nine months after Clemons was supposed to die carries a message. “What has been going on and why has that evidence been sitting there and why has it not come forward and why it’s just now at this time come forward. I think those are questions legislators should be asking,” he says.
The Attorney General wants a quick court ruling on how this information should be processed. Morehouse’s group and other death penalty organizations had planned before the evidence was found to have a rally at the Capitol next week. Morehouse says the revelations about the evidence will give more weight to the push for a moratorium. [Story by Missourinet's Bob Priddy]
