Walter was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1991 killing of 81-year-old Gladys Kuehler based on unreliable evidence — and he’s always maintained his innocence. His attorneys raised new concerns about blood spatter evidence that was used to convict him, and three jurors who convicted Walter signed affidavits saying new evidence would have affected their deliberations.
Based in part on concerns over this evidence, a federal judge granted Walter a 30-day stay of execution on Friday, but unfortunately, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the judge’s ruling, allowing the execution to proceed as scheduled. The Governor of Missouri then rejected requests to stay the execution. Now, it’s in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court.
This execution would be the first in the U.S. since March 5, when concerns about COVID-19 prompted other states to postpone any scheduled executions. The pandemic has made it nearly impossible for Walter's attorneys to do additional work to supplement his existing innocence claim, yet the State of Missouri is still moving with his execution.
The Innocence Project exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. www.innocenceproject.org
