Missouri Man Who Maintains Innocence Set to Be Executed for Killing State Trooper
A Missouri man who insists he is innocent is scheduled to be executed Tuesday evening for the fatal shooting of a state trooper nearly two decades ago. Lance Shockley, 48, was convicted of killing Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Carl Dewayne Graham Jr. in March 2005.
Prosecutors said Shockley waited near Sgt. Graham’s home in Van Buren, southeast Missouri, before ambushing him with a rifle and shotgun as he exited his patrol vehicle. The attack came after Graham investigated a car crash in which Shockley was involved, making him a suspect.
Shockley is scheduled to receive a lethal injection after 6 p.m. local time at the state prison in Bonne Terre, Missouri. His execution is one of two set for Tuesday in the U.S. In Florida, 72-year-old Samuel Lee Smithers is scheduled to die for the 1996 murders of two women.
Missouri’s Republican Governor Mike Kehoe denied Shockley’s clemency request on Monday. “Violence against those who risk their lives every day to protect our communities will never be tolerated. Missouri stands firmly with our men and women in uniform,” Kehoe said in a statement.
Shockley’s attorneys filed last-minute legal challenges, arguing that key evidence from the crime scene has never undergone DNA testing. They contend the results could exonerate him. However, the Missouri Supreme Court denied a request to delay the execution pending a ruling from a lower state appeals court, which is reviewing the DNA testing petition.
Attorney Jeremy Weis acknowledged that it is unlikely the appeals court will act before the execution. Shockley continues to maintain his innocence as the clock ticks toward his scheduled death by lethal injection.
