Case Facts: Around noon on March 11, 1992 Jeffrey Tokar and his girlfriend Sandra Stickly were driving together in a rural area north of Centralia, Missouri looking for an empty house. The pair located the home of Johnny and Tammy Douglass and parked in the driveway. Tokar placed his socks over his hands to avoid Leaving fingerprints. He returned from inside the house with a shotgun and shells. He then urged Stickley to go back inside the house with him.

Later that afternoon Johnny Douglass returned home with his eight year old son Jared and his four year old daughter Lynzie. Upon arriving at the house they noticed the vehicle in the driveway. Mr. Douglass told his children to stay in the truck while he went to the garage to investigate. Lynzie left the truck a short time Later and then Jared also left the truck and went Into the garage.

Tokar and Stickley were inside ransacking the home and placing items in pillowcases. Stickley warned Tokar that she heard someone pull into the driveway. Tokar then loaded the shotgun and went toward the garage where he met Mr. Douglass. Stickley testified that she heard one of the children say “Mister, please don’t hurt my daddy.” She also heard Mr. Douglass plead, “Mister, please don’t hurt me. I’ll do anything you say.” She heard Tokar tell Mr. Douglass not to look at him. She heard one shot and then a second shot.

Tokar and Stickley ran back to the car and left the scene. Tokar wiped down the shotgun and took a shell from the weapon. They stopped the vehicle and Tokar threw the shotgun and the shell Into a nearby farm pond. Jared Douglass went to a neighbor’s house where the police were contacted. The children were then taken to their grandparents’ home.

When the police arrived at the scene they found Mr. Douglass in a pool of blood. He had been shot once in the face and once in the back of his head. Due to the blood splatter evidence it appeared to police that Mr. Douglass had been bent over or low to the ground when the second shot was fired. Police found a bloody shoe imprint and the items stuffed into pillow cases. They also recovered a box of .410 shotgun shells, but did not locate the shotgun.

Tokar and Stickley were arrested on March 13, 1992. At first Stickley denied being there, but later told police that she was with Tokar and that he had confessed to her that he had killed Mr. Douglass. The police also later recovered the shotgun and the shell from the pond where Tokar had thrown It on the day of the murder. Tokar was later identified in a line up by three different individuals and he was charged with Murder First Degree.

Legal Chronology:

1992
03/11 - Johnny Douglass is murdered by Jeffrey Tokar in Audrain Court, Missouri.

1993
05/03 - Tokar goes to trial on a change of venue to Warren County. After five days a jury finds Tokar guilty of Murder 08/27 - First Degree and recommends the death penalty. Tokar is sentenced to death.

1994
05/26 - Tokar files a motion for post-conviction relief in the circuit court.

1995
02/10 - Tokar’s motion for post-conviction relief is denied by the circuit court.

1996
03/26 - The Missouri Supreme Court affirms Tokar’s conviction and sentence. The court also affirms the circuit court’s denial of Tokar’s motion for post-conviction relief.
10/15 - The United States Supreme Court denies Tokar’s petition for writ of certiorari.

1997
05/23 - Tokar files a petition of writ of habeas corpus in the U.S. District Court.

1998
03/19 - The U.S. District Court denies Tokar’s petition for writ of habeas corpus.

1999
12/08 - The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirms the District Court's denial of Tokar's petition for writ of habeas corpus.

2000
10/02 - The U.S. Supreme Court denies Tokar's petition for writ of certiorari.

2002
02/04 - The Missouri Supreme Court sets March 6, 2002, as the execution date for Jeffrey Tokar.