Casey’s convenience store

BREAKING: Missouri executes convicted Columbia triple killer Ernest Lee Johnson, despite pleas for clemency

October 5, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

A convicted Columbia triple killer has been executed, despite calls for clemency from Pope Francis and two congressional Democrats from Missouri. Ernest Lee Johnson was executed by lethal injection Tuesday evening at the state’s maximum-security prison in Bonne Terre. Prosecutors say Johnson used a hammer to kill Mary Bratcher, Mable Scruggs and Fred Jones in …

BREAKING: Missouri’s governor rejects clemency request from convicted Columbia triple killer

October 4, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s governor has rejected a clemency request from convicted Columbia triple killer Ernest Lee Johnson, clearing the way for Tuesday’s scheduled execution in southeast Missouri’s Bonne Terre. Barring intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court or a federal judge, Johnson will be executed by lethal injection at the state’s maximum-security prison in Bonne Terre. “The state …

Death penalty opponents request clemency for convicted Columbia triple murderer

September 30, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Supporters of a convicted Columbia triple killer who’s set to be executed on Tuesday in Boone Terre are urging Missouri’s governor to grant clemency in the case. 61-year-old Ernest Lee Johnson was convicted of killing three people with a hammer at a now-closed Casey’s convenience store, on Ballenger Lane. The murders happened in February 1994. Johnson’s …

October execution date now set for convicted triple killer from mid-Missouri

September 1, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s Supreme Court has declined to halt the October scheduled execution of a convicted triple killer from Columbia. 60-year-old Ernest Lee Johnson’s attorneys say his intellectual disability should make him ineligible for the death penalty. Johnson is now set to be executed by lethal injection on October 5 at the state’s maximum-security prison in southeast Missouri’s …