JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced today that new evidence has emerged in the Marcellus Williams case, confirming his office's assertion regarding DNA found on a knife used in the trial. The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office had previously claimed that this DNA would exonerate Williams by matching an unknown individual.
“I am proud of how hard we have fought for the rule of law in this case. Throughout all the legal games, the defense created a false narrative of innocence in order to get a convicted murderer off of death row and fulfill their political ends. Because of the defense’s failure to do their due diligence by testing the evidence that supposedly proved their point, the victims have been forced to relive their horrific loss for the last six years,” said Attorney General Bailey. “The victims in this case deserve better. Missourians deserve better.”
Recent DNA testing revealed that multiple individuals, including law enforcement officers, had handled the knife since its discovery. This was corroborated by defense-conducted DNA tests showing an investigator had touched the knife without gloves during trial proceedings. Additionally, one of the defense's experts testified that he could not exclude Williams's DNA from being present on the knife.
The jury's original conviction remains supported by other evidence: personal items belonging to the victim were discovered in Williams’s car post-murder, and a witness testified that Williams sold him the victim’s laptop.
Williams will plead guilty rather than prove his innocence at today's scheduled hearing. "No innocent man is willing to spend the rest of his life in prison unless he knows he is guilty," stated Bailey.
Attorney General Bailey emphasized, “The juries of the State of Missouri under the Sixth Amendment have a right to participate in the process, and someone needs to assert the jury’s determination in the legal process. Too often, people forget about all of the evidence that was used to convict the defendant —the evidence the jury relied on— and about victims. The public has been deceived every step of way. That is why truth must get out.”
The new DNA evidence can be viewed here.