Missouri man executed despite prosecutor's opposition

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00:00After more than two decades on death row,

00:02Marcellus Williams was killed by lethal injection on Tuesday evening in Missouri,

00:07despite objections from prosecutors who sought to have his conviction overturned.

00:12The 55-year-old, who repeatedly said he was innocent,

00:15was convicted of killing Lisha Gayle in 1998.

00:18He was accused of breaking into her home,

00:20stabbing her to death and stealing several of her belongings.

00:24Many had campaigned against his execution,

00:26from these protesters who took to the streets in Kansas City,

00:30to British billionaire Richard Branson, who bought a full-page advert in a local newspaper

00:35condemning a devastating miscarriage of justice.

00:38But the governor of Missouri pushed for the execution to go ahead, despite protests.

00:44No jury nor court, including at the trial,

00:46appellate and Supreme Court levels, have ever found merit in Mr Williams' innocence claim.

00:52At the end of the day, his guilty verdict and sentence of capital punishment were upheld.

00:57Local prosecutors renounced Williams' conviction,

01:00while the victim's family said they opposed his execution.

01:04No forensic evidence linked him to the murder weapon or crime scene,

01:08and his lawyers argued that DNA evidence was mishandled.

01:13We must all question any system that would allow this to occur.

01:16The execution of an innocent person is the most extreme manifestation of Missouri's obsession

01:20with finality over truth, justice and humanity at any cost.

01:25Sixteen people have been executed in the US so far this year.

01:28Three of them have been in Missouri.

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