Just weeks away from his scheduled execution, a death row inmate who narrowly escaped the proverbial "hangman's noose" back in 2017, now faces a devastating setback.
The Missouri Supreme Court blocked an agreement to spare Marcellus Williams' life and instead ordered a hearing on his innocence claim, just over a month before his scheduled execution.
The ruling late Wednesday followed St. Louis County Circuit Judge Bruce Hilton's approval of a plan allowing Williams to enter a no-contest plea to first-degree murder in the 1998 death of Lisha Gayle.
The 55-year-old's lawyers maintain his innocence, but the plea acknowledges that the evidence is sufficient for a conviction.
Williams was expected to be sentenced to life in prison without parole on Thursday; however, his September 24 execution date remains in effect, pending a hearing on his innocence claim before Judge Hilton.
The hearing was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell asked the judge to overturn Williams' murder conviction, citing DNA testing that found another person's DNA on the knife used to kill Gayle.
But a DNA test report released this week found that the murder weapon had been contaminated decades ago by a former assistant prosecutor and investigator, making the evidence unusable for Williams' case.
The report prompted prosecutors to reach an agreement with Williams, which Judge Hilton approved.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey immediately appealed, arguing that a circuit court does not have the authority to overturn a capital murder sentence.
Matthew Jacober, a special prosecutor for the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, stated that the contaminated evidence made it impossible to show that someone else may have been the killer.
The Missouri Supreme Court agreed and instructed Judge Hilton to "set aside the consent order and judgment and notify this Court that you will take action, including holding the previously scheduled evidentiary hearing."
"People too often forget about all of the evidence that was used to convict the defendant-the evidence the jury relied on-and the victims. It is in the interest of every Missourian that the rule of law is fought for and upheld," Bailey said in a statement.
Williams' attorney, Tricia Bushnell, responded to say that the state Supreme Court ruling "directly contradicts the will of a duly elected prosecutor, the community he represents, and the wishes of a family who has already lost so much."
Williams was only hours away from execution in August 2017 when then-Gov. Eric Greitens, a Republican, granted a stay after DNA testing unavailable at the time of the killing showed that DNA on the knife matched someone else, not Williams, according to The Associated Press.
On Wednesday, Judge Hilton also noted Gayle's family did not want Williams to be executed.
Gayle was stabbed 43 times on August 11, 1988, while coming down the stairs in her home.
