Midwest Innocence Project

The family of Marcellus Williams has reported receiving death threats since the state of Missouri executed him on Tuesday. A representative of his son said the threats were made via phone calls, emails and anonymous social media messages.

Marcellus Williams had always maintained that he had nothing to do with the stabbing death of a former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter. State and federal courts rejected numerous last-minute requests to halt the execution and review the case.

Without intervention from Gov. Mike Parson or the U.S. Supreme Court, Marcellus Williams will be executed Sept. 24.

Without the ability to definitively link DNA found on the murder weapon to an alternate suspect, attorneys for Marcellus Williams relied on raising questions about the original conviction.

Dunn was convicted for a 1990 deadly shooting of a teen in St. Louis. Others involved in the case later admitted they lied about Dunn’s involvement. No DNA ever tied Dunn to the murder.

Dunn is optimistic about his freedom but also cautious: “I've been down this road before.”

The motion says new DNA evidence, plus the lack of other credible evidence supporting the verdict, cast “inexorable doubt on Mr. Williams’ conviction and sentence.”

Because Gov. Mike Parson dissolved a board of inquiry established in 2017, the Missouri Supreme Court is free to set an execution date for Marcellus Williams, even if St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell has not yet finished his review of the case.

Johnson had long maintained he did not shoot and kill Marcus Boyd in 1994. A judge ruled last year that “clear and convincing” evidence showed Johnson was innocent and freed him after 28 years.

“New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings, and that's the way I've got to look at life,” Johnson said. “I’m happy to have my life back, and I'm going to try to make the best of it.”