Al-Marsad newspaper: The case of executing the death sentence against an American Muslim prisoner in the American state of Missouri, for committing the murder of a journalist 26 years ago, sparked an uproar on social networking sites, after the prisoner’s last message before his execution was circulated.
CNN reported that before the execution of Marcellus Williams (55 years old), he wrote on the paper on which he might write words of remorse, confession of the crime, a will, or a letter. Instead, he wrote, “Thank God for everything,” and then they executed him with an intravenous injection.
Marcellus had converted to Islam in prison and called himself “Caliph” and became an imam for Muslims in prison. Before his death, he wrote a poem in which he mourned the children of Palestine who were martyred in the recent events.
Williams was denied a last-minute clemency from the US Supreme Court, after a Missouri state court rejected his clemency requests earlier this week.
Williams’ lawyers have raised concerns about the handling of his case, saying that African-American jurors were wrongly excluded from his trial, that there was no forensic evidence linking Williams to the crime scene, and that the murder weapon was mishandled, raising questions about DNA evidence.
During his trial, prosecutors said Williams broke into Gayle’s home in August 1998 and stabbed her 43 times with a large butcher knife, before stealing her purse and her husband’s laptop.
Missouri prison authorities announced his execution last Tuesday evening by lethal injection.
