The State of Missouri has carried out its first execution under Gov. Mike Kehoe.
The Department of Corrections announced shortly before 6:30 p.m. Tuesday that Lance Shockley had been put to death for the 2005 murder of Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper Carl DeWayne Graham in southern Missouri.
A jury in Carter County found Shockley guilty of first-degree murder in 2009 but could not agree on whether to hand down a death sentence. It was the judge who made that decision. Missouri is one of only two states that allow a judge to decide on the death penalty if a jury is deadlocked.
Graham had been investigating Shockley for a fatal hit-and-run. The family of the victim and Shockley reached a settlement in 2006. Details on the terms were not available.
Shockley had maintained his innocence in Graham’s killing. His supporters, including Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty, had pushed Kehoe to stay the execution and allow for DNA testing that could identify the person who they said actually killed Graham.
Attorneys for Shockley had also asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the execution because Missouri officials were refusing to allow one of Shockley’s daughters to be in the execution chamber as his spiritual adviser in what the lawyers called a violation of his right to exercise his religion. The justices denied that request
