ST. LOUIS (AP) - A federal judge has rejected a request for DNA testing by a 46-year-old Missouri inmate facing a late January execution for the fatal stabbing of a St. Louis County woman during a 1998 burglary.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/1znctSk) reports Marcellus Williams' request was deemed "frivolous" in a ruling two days after he filed the challenge. The decision is under appeal, as is a related request in state court.
Williams is scheduled to die on Jan. 29 in Missouri's first execution of the new year after 10 inmates were put to death in 2014.
Lisha Gayle, a former Post-Dispatch reporter, was killed at her home in University City. Williams was convicted of burglarizing the home and then killing Gayle after she discovered him while getting out of the shower.