(Missourinet) – Missouri will not be carrying out the execution next week of a man who was sentenced to death for hiring another man to kill his ex-wife 15-years ago. Governor Jay Nixon (D) has commuted the sentence of 51-year-old Kimber Edwards to life without parole.

Edwards had been scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday at the state prison in Bonne Terre.

Edwards’ attorneys and anti-death penalty advocates cited recent statements by the man he was convicted of hiring to kill Kimberly Cantrell, Orthell Wilson, that he had acted alone and lied about Edwards’ involvement to avoid the death penalty.

Cantrell was fatally shot in her University City Home August 22, 2000. Wilson is serving life in the state prison in Jefferson City for the murder.

Nixon, in his statement, however, does not suggest that he thinks Edwards is innocent.

“After a thorough review of the facts surrounding the murder of Kimberly Cantrell, I am convinced the evidence supports the jury’s decision to convict Kimber Edwards of first-degree murder,” wrote Nixon. “At the same time, however, I am using my authority under the Missouri Constitution to commute Edwards’ sentence to life without the possibility of parole. This is a step not taken lightly, and only after significant consideration of the totality of the circumstances. With this decision, Kimber Edwards will remain in prison for the remainder of his life for this murder.”

Missouri is next scheduled to carry out the execution of Ernest Lee Johnson, November 3.

(Missourinet) – The latest candidate to confirm his race for the Republican nomination for governor is traveling the state carrying his message.

Former Navy SEAL Eric Greitens is getting more than half of his campaign funding from out-of-state.

Greitens argues he still has more support in Missouri than any of his opponents.

“The facts are, one, that we raise more money in Missouri than all of our opponents. Number two, we have more donors in Missouri than all of our other opponents,” said Greitens. “Because I have a track record as a proven leader we have supporters around the country who are investing in this race – strong conservative donors who believe the states are the laboratories of democracy, and they want to see strong leaders who can actually drive change.”

Greitens isn’t concerned by the fact that few Missouri governors have, like him, not held a prior statewide office.

“Missourians are gravitating toward this campaign because I’m the only conservative outsider in this race, I’m the only proven leader in this race, and I’m the only person who’s actually been on the front lines with my hands solving real problems for real people,” Greitens said.

About 60 supporters turned out for Greitens’ latest campaign stop, in Columbia, after he was a no-show at an event Wednesday in Lee’s Summit where only three people turned out.

(Missourinet) – Republican leaders in the Missouri House are calling on Governor Jay Nixon (D) to support using improved state revenue to build a pay hike for state employees into the next state budget.

The $26-billion budget for the fiscal year that began July 1 did not include a pay increase for state employees. Missouri House Speaker Todd Richardson (R-Poplar Bluff) and Budget Committee Chairman Tom Flanigan (R-Carthage) are telling Governor Nixon the next budget needs to include one.

Representative Kevin Engler (R-Farmington) pushed for that to be a priority.

“I’d like to see at least a 3-percent raise, and if we could sustain that for a year or two that would cost a little over 40-million. We spend 40-million on a lot of things. I think we should at least have a priority to spend it on our employees,” said Engler.

Engler’s district includes hundreds of employees of the Department of Corrections. Some of that Department’s former guards have moved to other states after completing training, knowing they can make significantly more money working for a neighboring corrections system.
Engler says the starting salaries Missouri offers to new state employees are not competitive.

“When they can go and work at a retailer and make more money, and when we ask them to be qualified – some of these positions you have to have degrees for – we have to make sure that we’re competitive in the environment or all we’re going to do is attract people who can’t find jobs elsewhere,” said Engler.

Engler says with state revenue improving, there’s a good chance money for a raise won’t have to come out of other programs.

“The governor wants to give 40-something million to the universities. We’ve given them more and more and more every year, and we haven’t given our employees – it’s not like we’ve been expanding our payroll. When I first got [into the legislature] we had 60-something thousand employees. Now we’ve got like 51,” said Engler.

Nixon did last week tell officials with Missouri’s two-and four-year colleges and universities he is proposing a 6-percent, or roughly $55.7-million dollar increase in performance-based state funding for higher education. When asked about the pay raise idea Wednesday his spokesman said he has not made decisions about a proposal for the Fiscal Year 2017 budget.

Some lawmakers when discussing state employee pay have said Missouri doesn’t need to have the best paid workers, but should shoot for something closer to the middle. Engler agrees.

“Illinois has got itself in a fiscally irresponsible position. We don’t want to go that far,” said Engler. “But we have to be able to pay – if they put themselves in a position where it’s a very difficult job and they have to be working overtime when they’re forced to do so, and they have to be working in tough conditions, they should be competitively priced in the market and they’re not right now.”

While the Fiscal Year 2016 budget did not include a raise, it did include $300,000 for a total compensation study to compare Missouri workers’ pay with that of their counterparts in other states and in the private sector. A staffer for State Senator Mike Kehoe (R-Jefferson City) confirmed his previously stated position that he wants to see that study move forward to help build the case for a long-term solution to state worker pay that would make it more competitive, but said that doesn’t mean he would oppose an increase in the Fiscal Year 2017 budget.

Engler says how a raise would be structured is also important.

“If you pay a percentage raise then the higher end people get more money, whereas if you pay a flat dollar figure that’s not fair to the management,” Engler said. “So what we did in years past, we’ve taken half of the raise in percentage and half the raise in dollar, and that’s what I’m going to be recommending.”

(Missourinet) – A contentious issue from 2006 has re-emerged in Missouri, ahead of next year’s election. Republicans and Democrats are looking for ways to drive more voters to the polls, and one way could be to put embryonic stem cell research on the ballot.
Missouri voters passed a ballot measure in 2006 to protect any stem cell research, stem cell therapies or cures.

Attorney General Chris Koster is speaking out against what he’s calling renewed attempts to prevent Missouri institutions from conducting stem cell research. He cited a story by the Columbia Daily Tribune reporting that Missouri Right to Life is preparing to “launch an assault” on groundbreaking work.

“Republicans are again going back and fighting the stem cell wars that were settled back in 2005 and 2006. We had major fights during those years. Republicans were trying to criminalize this life-saving research,” said Koster. “What we want to make sure is that these researchers are protected in our state and that medical research is given the opportunity to progress freely without the religious wars of Jefferson City.”

Susan Klein with Missouri Right to Life, a pro-life organization, accuses Koster of misleading the public about what the group stands for.

“He’s trying to classify and put Missouri Right to Life in a category where we oppose all research and that’s just not true,” said Klein. “If and when there was ever any kind of an initiative that came from the pro-life side of this issue, it would absolutely not be to criminalize or to change research for adult stem cell research. It would be to clarify that you can not do embryonic stem cell research or human cloning and especially you can’t do it with our tax dollars.”

Klein said she’s unsure if an effort to end embryonic stem cell research in Missouri will be on the ballot in 2016, but says it’s an issue that’s always discussed. She said Missouri Right to Life is, however, working on legislation to introduce during the 2016 legislative session. She said it’s still early, but the group’s priorities would be to expand abortion clinic inspections and implement a ban on abortions that involve dismemberment.

(Missourinet) – The state Supreme Court has heard the arguments for a developmentally disabled teenager accused of the sexual assault of his adoptive sister, that he shouldn’t be placed on the sex offender registry when he is an adult.

The lower judge that handled his case ordered that he be placed on the juvenile sex offender registry, which is not made public. The teen’s attorney, Patricia Harrison, argues state law will still put him on the adult registry.

“The statute requires that he be placed on that registry regardless of whether the juvenile judge felt that was appropriate,” Harrison said.
Harrison says the state law violates both the state and federal constitutions, arguing that for him to wind up on the adult registry would be an adult penalty imposed in a juvenile case, and would represent a cruel and unusual punishment.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew Laudano said the teenager cannot challenge that law since it wasn’t imposed on him by the judge. He also argues the law is constitutional because it isn’t about punishment, but about protecting the public.

“In this case protection of the public from individuals who by a finding of age and a qualifying delinquent act pose a serious risk to public safety,” said Laudano.

The court could issue a ruling at any time. Its decision could have effects on other cases in which children are accused of serious sex crimes.

Missourians who oppose the death penalty are asking courts and Governor Jay Nixon to consider the testimony of a confessed murderer, that the man sentenced to death for hiring him is innocent, before that man is executed for that hiring next week.

Kimber Edwards is scheduled to die by lethal injection October 6 at the state prison at Bonne Terre. He was convicted of hiring Orthell Wilson to kill his ex-wife, Kimberly Cantrell, 15 years ago at her University City home.

Wilson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in April he lied to investigators about Edwards’ involvement to secure a plea deal that would allow him to avoid the death penalty. Wilson’s claim now is that he had been secretly carrying on a relationship with Cantrell and killed her after an argument.

“15-years later he has decided to finally tell the truth, and the truth is that he wasn’t paid, that he was in a relationship with Miss Cantrell, that he knew her independent of any connection to our client, Kimber Edwards,” said Weis. “Under no pressure from us, under no pressure from Mr. Edwards – in fact we can’t offer him anything – he has decided to come forward and tell the truth.”

The Attorney General’s Office says that’s not true. In its response to the request for a new hearing with the Missouri Supreme Court, it calls the statements made this year by Wilson “incredible,” and said they are his “fourth version of events.” It said Edwards’ attorneys told Wilson they would help him challenge his life sentence if he said Edwards is innocent.

“Wilson’s fourth statement was clearly orchestrated by Edwards, not to save an innocent man, but instead made to help Edwards escape his death sentence. Wilson was also motivated to make this new statement after he received assurances that he may receive legal help in exchange for his assistance, and was not concerned that his recent statement was false because, as he told his family, he had already been convicted of the murder,” the Attorney General’s Office wrote in its response.

Advocates argue say Edwards’ and Wilson’s confessions that led to their convictions were false and given after they were coerced. Police said Edwards admitted to paying $1,600 for the murder.

Tricia Bushnell with the Midwest Innocence Project says Edwards has Asperger’s syndrome and blames that for impairing his judgement, and says members of his family were questioned and fingerprinted by police, all adding to pressure on him to confess.

“It’s difficult for us, those of us who don’t go through the system and aren’t actually accused of doing something we didn’t commit, to understand how someone could ever confess to something they didn’t do, particularly something has heinous as murder,” said Bushnell, but she says of 330 cases in which DNA exonerated someone convicted of murder, false confessions were taken in more than a quarter of them.

Edwards was originally sentenced to be executed in May but that date was suspended by the state Supreme Court. It did not give a reason for that action but his attorneys at the time said they were too busy with other cases to spend time on Edwards’ case.

JEFFERSON CITY – Missouri is receiving a federal grant to help crime victims that is more than four times larger than last year’s funding.

Gov. Jay Nixon announced Monday that a grant of $36.7 million has been awarded through the federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA). It will be used to fund domestic violence shelters, crime victim advocates and other programs that assist the physical and emotional needs of crime victims in Missouri. Last year less than $8.7 million was awarded.

“This is great news for our ongoing efforts to support victims of crime,” Gov. Nixon said. “Through this increased funding, we can help provide greater assistance to domestic violence shelters, victim advocate programs and other efforts that help bring greater safety and stability to the lives of crime victims.”

The federal grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs was awarded to the Missouri Department of Public Safety, and is administered by the department’s Crime Victim Services Unit. The funding can be spent through Sept. 30, 2018. Eligible direct services include rape crisis centers and intervention, domestic violence shelters and other emergency services, child abuse treatment centers, support and advocacy services and court-related services. Other states are receiving similar funding increases.

(Missourinet) – Pope Francis during a speech at the United Nations reiterated his support for the Iran nuclear deal.

“The recent agreement reached on the nuclear question in a sensitive region of Asia and the Middle East is proof of the potential of political good will and of law, exercised with sincerity, patience and constancy,” said Francis. “I express my hope that this agreement will be lasting and efficacious, and bring forth the desired fruits with the cooperation of all the parties involved.”

Senator Roy Blunt (R) continues to call the plan, “terrible,” and said it will lead to a destabilization.

“Other countries in the Middle East now that absolutely don’t trust Iran will want to be sure they have whatever kind of weapons the Iranians have, and so suddenly the nuclear genie in the Middle East is out of the box like it has not been before,” said Blunt.

Blunt says the disagreement doesn’t change his regard for the pope.

“Frankly I don’t always agree with everything the preacher says at church, either, but that doesn’t mean I’m not respectful,” said Blunt.
Analysts are offering varying takes on what Pope Francis has had to say about Capitalism and what his visit has meant for the U.S.

Senator Blunt says it would be interesting to know what impact the Pope’s time in this country has had on him.

“When you grow up in Juan Perón’s Argentina, you have a different view of the economy and Capitalism and government than you would have if you really understood how those things are done in the United States of America,” said Blunt. “I wonder what impact it has at [the pope’s] age for the first time ever to come and really see the difference in the expression of our country toward him, of the obvious opportunities that so many people have here that they don’t have lots of other places.”

Pope Francis flew back to Rome last night.

Jefferson City, Mo. – Attorney General Chris Koster released a report Monday concluding his office’s investigation into Planned Parenthood.

The office launched its investigation following the July 2015 release of videos raising questions about Planned Parenthood’s practices in other states regarding the alleged unlawful sale of fetal tissue. Koster’s investigation examined in detail the tissue-handling practices of Planned Parenthood’s Missouri surgical facility and concluded there was no evidence that the facility engaged in unlawful activity.

The investigation focused on Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri (PPSLR), the only abortion facility currently licensed in Missouri to perform surgical abortions. As part of its investigation, the office conducted multiple interviews with representatives from PPSLR and the pathology laboratory that examines fetal tissue for PPSLR as required by Missouri law. The office also reviewed thousands of pages of documents to inform its findings.

As part of its review, the Attorney General’s Office obtained documents for a representative 30-day period tracing the facility’s process for the disposal of fetal tissue, tracking the chain of custody from surgical procedure to incineration. The documents showed that after a procedure is complete, the tissue is placed into a leakproof, specially marked container and transported to the pathology lab for examination. When the lab completes its work, a waste-disposal company collects the tissue, takes it to the incinerator, and destroys it. Documents obtained by the Attorney General’s Office—including itemized invoices from the pathology lab charging Planned Parenthood for examination of tissue from each procedure and a certification from the disposal company verifying that the material has, in fact, been destroyed—confirm each step of this process. The investigation examined documents from all 317 separate abortions that occurred during the audited period, tracing each procedure from Planned Parenthood to the incinerator.

“The evidence reviewed by my investigators supports Planned Parenthood’s representation that fetal tissue is handled in accordance with Missouri law,” Koster said. “We have discovered no evidence whatsoever to suggest that Planned Parenthood’s St. Louis facility is selling fetal tissue.”