Attorney General Chris Koster is urging the State Supreme Court to set a date of death by execution for 19 death row inmates.
Koster says these are inmates who can no longer appeal, no stays are in effect, and no legal impediment exists.
“Right now ther are 19 individuals who are on Death Row in the State of Missouri, about ten of them have already been before the Supreme Court to get execution dates, but the Supreme Court has taken a very long time in responding to these requests, sometimes as much as 1800 days — so, three, four, five years without an answer from the supreme court. We placed nine more names in front of the court, and raised the issue that we feel that it’s incumbent upon the court to begin to answer these requests beacuse there is no other way for these cases to proceed without court action.”
On behalf of the State, Koster has expressly requested this Court to set execution dates for the following ten individuals:
|
Defendant |
Date Motion Filed |
Days Motion Pending |
| Jeffrey Ferguson |
April 14, 2006 |
2225 |
| John Middleton |
June 8, 2007 |
1805 |
| William Rousan |
June 8, 2007 |
1805 |
| Michael Taylor |
June 8, 2007 |
1805 |
| John Winfield |
June 8, 2007 |
1805 |
| Russell Bucklew |
June 8, 2007 |
1805 |
| Earl Ringo |
April 17, 2008 |
1491 |
| Mark Christeson |
April 17, 2008 |
1491 |
| Joseph Franklin1 |
June 16, 2009 |
1066 |
| Allen Nicklasson |
January 26, 2010 |
842 |
In addition to the ten defendants identified above, nine additional individuals now have final convictions for capital murder, with no stay in effect:
|
Defendant |
Date Conviction Final |
| Cecil Clayton |
November 3, 2008 |
| Herbert Smulls |
April 6, 2009 |
| David Barnett |
October 5, 2009 |
| Leon Taylor |
June 21, 2010 |
| Walter Storey |
February 28, 2011 |
| Andre Cole |
October 3, 2011 |
| Michael Worthington |
November 28, 2011 |
| Paul Goodwin |
February 21, 2012 |
| David Zink |
March 26, 2012 |
Meanwhile, the problem that has effectively stopped executions for two years in Missouri has been solved by the Missouri Department of Corrections. When the drug sodium thiopental was taken off the market, our state and many others were forced to find a new lethal injection drug. That drug has been procured. See this story for more.
The last person to be executed at the correctional facility in Bonne Terre was Martin Link, who was put to death for the kidnap, rape and murder of 11-year-old Elissa Self in St. Louis.
AUDIO: Jessica Machetta reports (1:30)