Advocates say man facing execution next week in Missouri in death of ex-wife is innocent

Kimber Edwards

Missouri risks executing an innocent man next week, advocates for Kimber Edwards warned Monday, citing a key witness who says his testimony was coerced and the inmate's contention that his own confession was false.

Edwards, a 51-year-old former St. Louis jailer, was convicted of hiring Orthell Wilson to kill his ex-wife, Kimberly Cantrell, in 2000 in her suburban St. Louis apartment. His execution is scheduled for Oct. 6.

Prosecutors said Edwards wanted Cantrell dead so he didn't have to pay child support. Wilson was sentenced to life in prison after a plea deal in which he agreed to cooperate against Edwards. Edwards confessed to the crime.

But Edwards' attorney, Jeremy Weis, and Tricia Bushnell, legal director of the Midwest Innocence Project, said Wilson has since said in an affidavit that he was trying to save himself from the death penalty when he cooperated against Edwards. Meanwhile, Edwards has recanted his confession.

"This could become a case where we could execute an innocent man without even looking at the evidence that he is innocent," Bushnell said.

Weis said he has asked the Missouri Supreme Court and Gov. Jay Nixon to halt the execution. Messages seeking comment from representatives for Nixon and Attorney General Chris Koster were not immediately returned.

Bushnell said false confessions are not uncommon. An Innocence Project examination of murder convictions overturned by DNA evidence found false confessions in nearly two-thirds of those cases, she said.

Edwards was diagnosed as autistic after his conviction, Weis said. Autistic people are more susceptible to confession to crimes they didn't commit, said Dennis Debbaudt, an expert on the relationship between those with autism and law enforcement.

Edwards and Cantrell had divorced in 1990, with Cantrell taking custody of their daughter, Erica. In early 2000, Edwards was charged for failing to pay child support. He faced a court appearance on Aug. 25, 2000.

Erica stayed with her father for 3 weeks prior to the hearing, but became concerned when she did not hear from her mother by Aug. 23. She called her aunt, who went to Cantrell's home in University City and found the body. Cantrell, 35, had been shot twice in the head the day before.

Wilson, a tenant in a rental property owned by Edwards, was arrested and pleaded guilty to 1st-degree murder for killing Cantrell. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole after implicating Edwards.

Police said Edwards admitted to paying a man $1,600 for the contract killing.

In an affidavit in May, Wilson said he was "coerced by police to implicate Edwards" by threat of the death penalty. Wilson now says he acted alone. Weis said Wilson and Cantrell were in a relationship and he killed her after an argument.

"Kimber Edwards is completely innocent," Wilson said in his affidavit.

Edwards, meanwhile, has long contended he was framed and had no motive to kill his wife because the couple had worked out a child support agreement.

Edwards' supporters also claim racial bias in his conviction and sentencing - Edwards is black and was convicted by an all-white jury.

He was first scheduled to be executed in May, but the Missouri Supreme Court stayed the execution without explanation. Weis said the reprieve may have been because the attorneys were too busy with other cases to give attention to Edwards' case.

Source: Associated Press, Sept. 28, 2015

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Florida | Jury recommends death sentence for Jeffrey Crum in killing of 12-year-old girl

BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — A Hernando County jury has recommended the death penalty for a 65-year-old man who was found guilty last week of raping and killing 12-year-old Jennifer Odom. Sentencing for Jeffrey Crum was held this week. Crum abducted Odom in 1993 after she stepped off her school bus in Pasco County. Her body was found in a Hernando County orange grove six days later.

Hanging of Osaka Arsonist is Japan’s First Execution Under Takaichi Government

As a majority of the international community has abolished capital punishment. Japan and the U.S. are the only two countries in the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations that put people to death. The execution of Takami Sunao—an arsonist whose 2009 attack in Osaka killed five—on August 21, 2026, was Japan’s first use of capital punishment in just over a year. Over a Decade from Sentencing to Execution Takami Sunao was executed on August 21, 2026 , for a 2009 arson attack at an Osaka pachinko parlor that killed five people. In July 2009, Takami poured gasoline on the floor of a pachinko parlor in Osaka and set it alight, killing 5 customers and staff members and injuring 10 more. While the defense argued that he was in a state of diminished capacity, the Supreme Court finalized his death sentence in February 2016. The execution took place 17 years after the initial crime and 10 and a half years after the death sentence was finalized.

Cartoons about Capital Punishment

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Spared execution eight times, oldest inmate in US dies at 101 after 76 years behind bars

Francis Clifford Smith was given his last meal eight times. But after being spared execution each time, he went on to be regarded as the longest-serving prisoner in the US before dying in June at 101 years old. Convicted of murder in 1950 when he was 25, he always maintained his innocence, those who knew him told the BBC. Andrius Banevicius, the public information officer for Connecticut's Department of Correction, recounted how Smith used to feed the birds while in Osborn Prison, earning him the nickname The Birdman of Osborn.

Israel builds execution chamber for Palestinians convicted of murder

In March, the Knesset approved legislation that calls for the execution of Palestinians convicted by a military court of killing Israelis Israeli authorities are preparing a prison wing—replete with an execution chamber—designated specifically for Palestinian prisoners convicted of murder, Israel’s i24NEWS channel reported Tuesday. The move comes after the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) approved legislation in March that calls for the execution of Palestinian prisoners convicted by a military court of murdering Israelis.

Japan executes man convicted of killing five in 2009 Osaka pachinko parlor arson

Japan on Friday announced the execution of a man convicted of killing five people after setting fire to an Osaka pachinko parlor in 2009, the first execution by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi 's government as the country faces growing calls for more transparency and the abolition of capital punishment. The Justice Ministry said Sunao Takami, 58, was hanged to death earlier Friday. Takami in 2009 set fire to the crowded pachinko parlor in Osaka by spreading gasoline and throwing a lit match, engulfing the building, killing five and injuring 10 others, Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi said.

Florida executes William Frances Silvia

Florida executed its 13th death row prisoner of the year Tuesday evening amid the state’s aggressive use of the death penalty championed by Governor Ron DeSantis. William Frances Silvia, 61, who was convicted of fatally shooting his estranged wife and injuring his mother-in-law in 2006, was pronounced dead at 6:11 p.m. after receiving the lethal three-drug injection at Florida State Prison. At 6 p.m. Tuesday, Silvia was already strapped to a gurney with an IV in his arm when the curtain to the death chamber went up. He remained relatively motionless with his eyes and mouth open throughout most of the execution while a priest sat at his feet and prayed.

Oklahoma executes Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez

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Alabama is trying a death penalty bait-and-switch

For a decade, Alabama death row inmate Jeffrey Lee has been clear that he does not want to be executed by lethal injection . But that is what awaits him on September 17 . He faces that prospect because the state has been enjoined from using nitrogen hypoxia , the alternative execution method he preferred, to put him to death. Having failed to show that its nitrogen hypoxia protocol is constitutionally acceptable, Alabama wants a do-over to force Lee to die by lethal injection as a result of its own failure. It should not get one. Alabama should only be able to put Lee to death if it can fix nitrogen hypoxia’s constitutional defects.

Texas | A Dangerous Man. At 18, Billy Joe Wardlow took a man’s life. Nearly 30 years later, the state still wants his.

Like any place humans gather, death row has a culture. Billy Wardlow says it's different in many ways from general population. One is in how new inmates are treated. "In [general population], the guys around you would try to find some way to exploit you," Wardlow said. "Death row, with a few exceptions, will often extend a hand of friendship to the 'new boot' so they can get on their feet ... Most of us get together and let each other know what we can send to the new guy." One of the cherished myths of those who support the death penalty is that it is reserved for the “worst of the worst,” those beyond redemption. Wardlow typically sends writing materials, food, clothes, and hygiene products. Recently, after receiving some of these items, a new inmate asked Wardlow what he owed him. "I told him to remember how guys helped him when he saw someone else new," Wardlow said. "Pay it forward, as the saying goes." Sending gift...

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