Murder of Felicia Gayle

Felicia Gayle Picus (known as Lisha) was a former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter who was found stabbed to death in her St. Louis, Missouri home during the day on August 11, 1998.

Gayle, 42 years old, was killed during a burglary in her gated community home in the University City suburb of St Louis, Missouri. She was stabbed between 10 times and 43 times with a butcher's knife taken from her kitchen.

Life
Felicia Gayle was born and grew up in Rockford, Illinois. She had graduated from University of Illinois with a degree in journalism and made her way in that career. By 1981, she was working as a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where she stayed until 1992. She left the newspaper to pursue more philanthropy and volunteer work.

In 1998, Gayle lived with her husband, Dr. Daniel Picus, in a home in University City, a suburb of St Louis, Missouri. They had known each other since childhood in Rockford. He is a radiologist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. She was 42 years old.

Burglary and murder
Gayle was stabbed to death during a daytime burglary at her home on August 11, 1998. Someone broke into the house. She was stabbed 43 times with a butcher's knife; seven of the wounds were fatal. Gayle's purse, her jacket, and her husband's laptop were found to be missing, along with some other minor items.

Investigation and trial
The crime scene left an abundance of forensic evidence for profiling the otherwise unknown murderer, such as fingerprints, footprints, hair, and a DNA trace on the murder weapon. In May 1999, Gayle's family announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case. In response, two police informants, Henry Cole and Lara Asaro, both with criminal records, named Marcellus Scott Williams (born December 30, 1968) as the culprit. Cole volunteered that Williams had made a jailhouse confession to him when both were in jail on charges unrelated to the murder. Williams had started serving a 20-year sentence for robbing a doughnut shop. Lara Asaro, who had been previously charged with soliciting and had had a brief relationship with Williams, gave testimony claiming Williams had confessed to her. Unlike Cole's deposition, which was compatible with news reports, she is said to have provided details that had not been mentioned in the public accounts of the crime, a point contested by the Innocence Project.

Both informants stood to benefit from their testimonies, which varied over time, and which sometimes conflicted with other details about the murder. Both were facing criminal charges, both had incentives to offer information in plea bargaining for leniency in their own pending cases. Both could gain financially from the reward offered. One witness, Glenn Roberts, stated that he had purchased an Apple laptop from Williams shortly after the robbery. Williams confirmed he had sold an Apple device to Roberts, and that he had told him he had received the laptop from Lara Asaro, a defense which would have linked her to the crime.

During the trial, the judge had refused to allow testing of some of the DNA evidence found at the scene. Jury selection challenges had resulted in a jury of 11 whites and one African American. Williams was convicted of Gayle's murder in 2001. He was sentenced to death on August 27, 2001, by St. Louis County Circuit Judge Emmett M. O'Brien.

Death penalty, dates and stays
Williams has been held on death row at Potosi Correctional Center since the end of his trial. He has always maintained his innocence in the Gayle case. His case has been appealed unsuccessfully several times. He was first scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in 2015. In appeals, his defense produced evidence that DNA taken from the knife at the scene revealed a unknown male profile and did not match that of Williams. Williams was scheduled to be executed on August 22, 2017.

Questions continue to be raised, as the state Supreme Court would not hear the new DNA evidence nor stay the execution. The prosecutor said they were confident about the case despite the DNA. Governor Eric Greitens issued a last-minute stay of execution that day. The governor initiated a Board of Inquiry to examine the new DNA evidence and other aspects of the case. The Board was headed by Carol E. Jackson, former federal judge of the Eastern District of Missouri. The Board consists of five retired federal judges to review the case. It has subpoenaed both prosecution and defense. The Board was also to meet with the state and defense attorneys in June 2018. Greitens resigned as governor in June 2018. The DNA evidence and new analysis suggested that another man was a suspect; DNA on the knife did not match that of Williams. The Board had hearings in August 2018. Governor Mike Parson was to receive the Board's conclusion, and make his decision. As of September 2021, the Board were still looking into new findings.

In June 2023, Governor Parson decided to dissolve the panel of five judges without receiving their report and lifted the stay on Williams' execution. He said it was time for the court to make a decision. Later State Attorney General Andrew Bailey asked the state Supreme Court to set a date for Williams' execution.

In August 2023, the The Midwest Innocence Project filed a lawsuit, stating that the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney is on record as stating he has convincing evidence of Williams' innocence. According to the Innocence Project, the Missouri Attorney General's Office has a record of dismissing DNA evidence that points to an accused person's innocence.

On January 26, 2024, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell filed a motion in the St. Louis County Circuit Court, asking the Court to vacate Marcellus Williams' death sentence. A 2021 Missouri law allows a prosecutor to intervene where there is information suggesting a convicted person may be innocent. He cited potential "ineffective assistance of counsel", apparent bias in jury selection, and potential weakness of the police investigation. He asked the Court for a hearing to consider the new evidence and other aspects of the investigation and trial. The new evidence consisted of a special prosecutor's review of the case, including the findings of 3 independent DNA experts who unanimously concluded that the male DNA on the murder weapon was not Williams'. A hearing is scheduled for August 21, 2024 to determine his innocence.

On June 4, 2024, Williams was again scheduled to be executed on September 24, 2024. On July 2, the Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri, scheduled a hearing for August 21, 2024, to evaluate the "clear and convincing evidence" of Williams' innocence. On July 12, 2024, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that his execution will move forward despite the pending lawsuit to overturn his conviction. In the court's opinion overruling the motion, justice Zel Fischer ruled that "they do not have the procedural authority to withdraw the execution order at this time."