Driskill was convicted on charges of first-degree murder, armed criminal action, rape, sodomy and burglary. The evidence at trial showed he encountered Johnnie Wilson, 82, and Coleen Wilson, 76, as he attempted to burglarize their home just north of Bennett Spring State Park. He forced the couple back inside their house at gunpoint, shot and suffocated Mr Wilson, and forcibly raped and shot Ms Wilson.
Evidence suggested Driskill attempted to burn their bodies in an unsuccessful effort to conceal the evidence of his crimes.
The couple were killed on their 59th wedding anniversary. The prosecutor told the trial jury Driskill, a 33-year-old, 18-time convicted criminal, raped, sodomized, tortured and killed a 76-year-old woman, and her 82-year-old husband over five dollars.
In a 5-2 decision written by Judge George W. Draper III and released Tuesday, the Supreme Court of Missouri affirmed the trial court’s judgment. The high court ruled that Driskill failed to demonstrate he was not competent to stand trial, and said there was no evidence the man was incompetent to stand trial without being medicated.
The high court also held that the trial court did not err in granting the man’s requests to leave the courtroom or in finding he voluntarily waived his right to testify. The judges also held that the trial court did not err by allowing the testimony of relatives and photographs of the victims
The court’s independent review found the imposition of the death penalty met the statutory requirements and was not disproportionate to similar cases, according to the ruling.
Judge Patricia Breckenridge dissented, writing she would send the case back for a new penalty phase trial. Judge Breckenridge found that the trial court committed reversible error in not ordering a competency examination, as required by state law, after the man’s condition deteriorated to the extent he could not be present in the courtroom or participate in the proceedings by closed-circuit television and communicate with his counsel by telephone.