Tag Archives: Executions

State of Missouri v. Marlin Gray

887 S.W.2d 369 (Mo.banc 1994)

Marlin Gray was executed at 12:07 a.m., Wednesday, October 26, 2005.

GrayMCase Facts:  On the evening of April 4,1991 Martin Gray, Reginald Clemons, Antonio Richardson and Daniel Winfrey went to the Chain of Rocks Bridge which spans the Mississippi River between St.Louis and Illinois. Two sisters, Julie and Robin Kerry and their cousin, Thomas Cummins, also went to the bridge that evening so that the Kerry sisters could show their cousin a poem they had written on the bridge.

While on the bridge the two groups encountered each other, exchanging pleasantries and talking for a short time. Gray showed Cummins and the Kerrys how to climb down a manhole on the deck of the bridge to a metal platform that lead to a concrete pier supporting the bridge. Gray told Cummins it was a good place to be alone with a woman. When the two groups separated the Kerrys and Cummins walked east toward Illinois and the others went west toward Missouri.

Shortly after the groups separated, Clemons suggested that they rob the Kerrys and Cummins. Gray replied that he felt like hurting someone and the group turned around and walked east. They eventually came upon the Kerrys and Cummins, who had turned around and were now walking back toward the Missouri side.

As the groups passed a bend in the bridge, Gray put his arm around Cummins and told him ”This is a robbery. Get down on the ground.” Cummins complied and Richardson, Clemons and Winfrey grabbed the Kerrys. One of the men told the girl to stop screaming or they would be thrown off the bridge. Richardson held the first sister’s shoulders down while demons ripped off her clothing and raped her. Richardson then raped the he first sister while demons held her down. Winfrey held the second sister and covered her face with a coat. One of the assailants told Cummins that he would be killed if he looked up from the ground. Gray then told Winfrey to watch Cummins. Gray and Clemons then tore off the second sister’s clothes and each raped her.

Richardson forced the first sister into the manhole and followed while Gray was raping the second sister. When Gray had finished, he asked Winfrey where Richardson had gone. Winfrey indicated that he had gone west. Gray then went in search of Richardson and the first sister. Clemons then forced the second sister down the manhole through which Richardson had taken the first sister. Clemons then robbed Cummins of his wallet, wristwatch, cash and keys. Clemons then forced Cummins into the manhole. Winfrey went to the entrance of the bridge to find Gray.

Under the bridge, the Kerrys and Cummins were told to step out onto the concrete pier below the metal platform. The Kerrys were pushed from the pier and fell a distance of about 70 feet. Cummins was told to jump which he did. When Cummins came to the surface he saw Julie Kerry nearby in the water and called for her to swim, but then lost sight of her. Cummins did not see either sister again.

Richardson and Clemons met Gray and Winfrey near the entrance to the bridge. Clemons said “We pushed them off. Let’s go.” The group ran to their cars and drove to Alton, Illinois to purchase gas, cigarettes and sandwiches with the money from the robbery. The group then drove back to an observation point near the river where Gray and Clemons speculated that the threewould never make it to the shore. Gray told Clemons that Richardson was brave to push the Kerry sisters off the bridge.

Julie Kerry’s body was found three weeks later in the river by the Sheriff of Pemiscot County, Missouri. Robin Kerry’s body was never recovered. Cummins survived and testified at Gray’s trial.

Legal Chronology

1991
04/05 – Marlin Gray with co-defendents Antonio Richardson, Reginald Clemons and Daniel Winfrey rape and kill Julie and Robin Kerry by pushing them off the Chain of Rocks Bridge in St. Louis, Missouri.
06/21 – Gray is charged by indictment with two counts of First Degree Murder, as well as other felonies.

1992
10/21 – The jury returns a verdict of guilty on two counts of Murder 1st Degree.
10/23 – The jury returns a death sentence as punishment on each count of First Degree Murder.
12/03 – The St. Louis City Circuit Court sentences Gary to death for both murder convictions.

1993
05/06 – Gray files a motion for post-conviction relief in the Circuit Court of St. Louis City.
11/29 – The Circuit Court denies post-conviction relief

1994
10/25 – The Missouri Supreme Court affirms Gray’s conviction and sentence and the denial of post-conviction relief.  State v. Gray, 887 S.W. 2d 369 (Mo. banc 1994).

1995
03/27 – The United States Supreme Court denies certiorari review.  Gray v. Missouri, 514 U.S. 1042 (1995).
04/25 – Gray files a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

2000
07/14 – The District Court denies the petition of writ of habeas corpus in an unpublished order.

2002
02/26 – The Court of Appeals affirms the denial of habeas relief.  Gray v. Bowersox, 281 F.3d 749 (8th Cir. 2002).

2003
01/13 – The Supreme Court declines discretionary review.  Gray v. Luebbers, 537 U.S.115 (2002).
06/24 – The State requests the Missouri Supreme Court to set an execution date.

2005
09/26 – The Missouri Supreme Court sets Gray’s execution date of October 26, 2005.

State of Missouri v. Timothy Johnston

Supreme Court Case Number: 74064 (May 25, 1997)

Timothy L. Johnston was executed at 12:07 a.m., August 31, 2005

JohnstonTCase Facts: At 2:28 a.m. on June 30, 1989, paramedics arrived at the home of Timothy and Nancy Johnston  in response to a 911 call, seeking assistance for a “severe sick case.” The 911 operator also dispatched  a police officer with the St. Louis Police Department to the residence. The ambulance carrying the  paramedics and the police arrived at the Johnston residence at the same time. A male voice from  inside the house directed these emergency personnel to “hurry up, inside. She is in here. She needs  help.” The officer and paramedics stepped over bloodstains on both the sidewalks and front porch.

Just inside the doorway, they found Timothy Johnston bent over a woman lying on the floor,  her otherwise nude upper body draped with a shirt, her face and torso horribly injured, swollen and  bloody. A six-inch gash ran across her forehead to the socket of her right eye. Someone had yanked  Large patches of hair from her head. She was not breathing. The police had to remove a very  agitated Timothy Johnston before paramedics could assess the woman’s condition.

Paramedics declared Ms. Johnston dead at the scene. An autopsy performed later that morning  revealed extensive, blunt-trauma injuries over much of her upper body; a broken nose; bruised and  torn lips; scrapes to the back of her head and face; separation of a portion of her scalp from the skull; a broken right collarbone; a four-inch tear in her liver; bruising and tearing in the heart and  spleen; fractures in nearly all of her ribs and a variety a relatively “minor”scrapes and bruises over  much of her body. The medical examiner determined the cause of death as the collapse of the
support structure around her heart and lungs, rendering those organs unable to function because  they could not bear the weight of the muscle, tissue and bone pressing on them. Bleeding under the  skin confirmed that the victim had remained alive through most of the beating.

When questioned, Johnston claimed a motorcycle gang that wanted “to get back at him”  had killed his wife, leaving her body for him to discover at their home. Further investigation revealed  three witnesses who identified Johnston as the individual they observed severely beating, kicking, stomping and dragging a woman on the sidewalk and porch earlier in the evening. Johnston eventually  confessed to the murder, saying he and his wife had been at a Local bar when they got into an  argument that continued to when they went home.

Missouri Supreme Court opinion.

Legal Chronology

1989
06/30 – Timothy Johnston murders Nancy Johnston in St.Louis, Missouri.
07/24 – Johnston is charged by indictment with First Degree Murder and Armed Criminal Action.

1991
05/16 – The jury returns a verdict of guilty of Murder 1st Degree and Armed Criminal Action.
05/18 – The jury returns a death sentence as punishment for First Degree Murder and life imprisonment for Armed Criminal Action.
07/26 – The St.Louis City Circuit Court sentences Johnston to death for the First Degree Murder conviction and Life imprisonment for the Armed Criminal Action conviction.

1992
01/02 – Johnston files a motion for post-conviction relief in the Circuit Court of St.Louis City.

1996
09/30 – The Circuit Court denies post-conviction relief.

1997
11/25 – The Missouri Supreme Court affirms Johnston’s conviction and sentence and the denial of post-conviction relief. State v. Johnston, 957 S.W.2d 734 (Mo.banc 1997)

1998
03/02 – The United States Supreme Court denies certiorari review. Johnston v. Missouri, 522 U.S.5O(1998).
08/14 – Johnston files a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

2000
11/02 – The District Court denies the petition for writ of habeas corpus. Johnston v. Bowersox, 119 F.Supp. 2d 971 (E.D.Mo.2000).

2002
05/01 – The Court of Appeals affirms the deniaL of habeas relief. Johnston v.Luebbers, 288 F.3d 1048 (8th Cir. 2002).

2003
01/21 – The Supreme Court declines certiorari review. Johnston v. Roper, 537 U.S. 1166 (2003).
05/12 – The State requests the Missouri Supreme Court to set an execution date.

2005
08/01 – The Missouri Supreme Court sets Johnston’s execution date of August 31, 2005.

State of Missouri v. Vernon Brown

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

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

BrownV
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.

State of Missouri v. Stanley L. Hall

955 S.W. 2d 198 (Mo.banc 1997) 

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

HallS
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.

Legal Chronology

1994
01/15 -Stanley Hall murders Barbara Jo Wood in St. Louis, Missouri.

1996
03/18 – Hall goes on trial for First Degree Murder in the Circuit Court of St. LouisCounty. On March 27, 1996, Hall is found guilty, and the jury recommends a sentence of death.      
06/21 – That court sentences Hall to death.             

1997
10/21 – The Missouri Supreme Court affirms Halt’s conviction and sentence. State v. Halt, 955 S.W. 2d 198 (Mo. banc 1997)

1998
03/30 – The United States Supreme Court denies Hall’s petition for writ of certiorari. Halt v. Missouri, 523 U.S. 1053 (1998)

1999
02/20 – Hall files a post-conviction relief motion in the circuit court.
05/11 – Circuit court denies Halt’s post-conviction relief motion.    

2000
04/25 – Missouri Supreme Court affirms the circuit court’s denial of Hall’s post-conviction relief motion. Halt v. State, 16 S.W. 3d 582 (Mo. banc 2000)

2001        
01/16 – Hall files a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court.       
09/05 – The United States District Court denies Hall’s petition for writ of habeas corpus.

2003 
09/02 – The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirms the District Court’s denial of Halt’s petition for writ of habeas corpus. Hall v. Luebbers, 341 F.3d 706 (8th Cir. 2003).

2004 
04/19 – The United States Supreme Court denies Hall’s petition for writ of certiorari. Hall v. Roper, 124 S.Ct. 2031 (2004).
07/27 – State files motion to set execution date with the Missouri Supreme Court.

2005
02/15 – Missouri Supreme Court sets Hall’s execution for March 16, 2005.

 

State of Missouri v. Kenneth Kenley

693 S.W.2d 79(Mo.banc 1985)

Kenneth Kenley was executed at 12:03 a.m., February 5, 2002.

Case Facts:  On January 3, 1984 Kenneth Kenley entered the Kater Inn liquor store in Poplar Bluff; Missouri wearing a ski mask and armed with a .38 caliber pistol. After the store clerk emptied the cash register into a bag, Kenley grabbed bystander, Sandra Buttry, and forced her into a brown station wagon he had borrowed from a friend. Kenley unzipped his pants and ordered Ms. Buttry to perform oral sex on him. In an attempt to escape, Ms. Buttry opened the door of the car and Kenley shot her in the back as she was jumping from the car. Ms. Buttry survived the assault.Shortly after midnight on January 4, 1984, Kenley entered the Blue Moon Tavern south of Poplar Bluff in Butler County, Missouri and announced a holdup. Kenley ordered the patrons to empty their pockets and get on the floor. When no one followed his order Kenley pointed his revolver at Ronald Felts and fired a single shot that struck Mr. Felts in the head and killed him. Kenley then ordered the owner of the bar, Ellen White, to give him all the money from the cash register. He then ordered Ms. White to go with him as he made his escape. While driving away Ms. White was able to jump out of The car.

At about 12:30 a.m. on January 4, 1984 Kenley arrived at the Coachlight Motel. Kenley pulled his gun on Mrs. Ollie Gaultney and demanded money. Her husband Truman entered the room at which time Kenley threatened to kill him if Mrs. Gaultney did not give him the money. Kenley pulled the trigger of his revolver, but it did not fire. Mr. Gaultney then struggled with Kenley and Kenley left the building. Mr. Gaultney retrieved a shotgun and fired three shots at Kenley as he drove away in his car.

As Kenley made his way across the state line into Arkansas, authorities pursued him to a roadblock that had been set up. Kenley lost control of his car on a patch of ice. Police officers fired shots at the car’s radiator and tires and the car stopped. Kenley got out of the car and fired shots at the officers and made his escape across a field.

Police arrested Kenley about an hour later in Corning, Arkansas when he attempted to rob Junior’s Food Mart and make his escape in a stolen car.

Legal Chronology:
1984
01/04 – Kenneth Kenley is arrested for the murder of Ronald Felts in Butler County, Missouri
06/13 – Kenley’s trial begins.
06/15 – Kenley is found guilty of Capital Murder and the jury recommends the death penalty.
07/13 – Kenley is sentenced to death.
07/19 – Kenley files a notice of appeal.

1985
06/25 – The Missouri Supreme Court affirms Kenley’s conviction and sentence.

1986
03/31 – The U. S. Supreme Court denies certiorari review.
08/01 – Kenley files a motion for post-conviction relief.
12/02 – The Butler County Circuit Court denies the motion for post-conviction relief.

1988
09/07 – The Missouri Court of Appeals affirms the denial of the motion for post-conviction relief.
11/30 – Kenley files a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

1989
07/12 – The U. S. District Court denies the petition for writ of habeas corpus.

1991
05/17 – The U. S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirms the conviction and orders a new penalty phase.
11/12 – The U. S. Supreme Court declines review.

1994
03/07 – The second penalty phase trial begins after a change of venue to Phelps County, Missouri
03/11 – The jury returns a verdict of death.
07/05 – Kenley files a notice of appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court.

1995
02/01 – Kenley files a motion for post-conviction relief.

1996
04/26 – The Circuit Court denies the motion for post-conviction relief.

1997
08/19 – The Missouri Supreme court affirms the sentence and denies the motion for post-conviction relief.

1998
01/26 – The U. S. Supreme Court denies review.
10/01 – Kenley files a writ of habeas corpus.

2000
11/02 – The U. S. District Court denies habeas relief.

2002
01/03 – The U. S. Court of Appeals affirms the denial of relief.
10/07 – The U. S. Supreme Court declines review.

2003
01/07 – The Missouri Supreme Court sets February 5, 2003, as Kenley’s execution date.