High court affirms Gill death sentence

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the capital murder conviction of Mark Anthony Gill for kidnapping and killing a Cape Girardeau County man in 2002.

Gill argued that his first-degree murder conviction and death sentence should be overturned because he claimed an accomplice actually shot Ralph Lee Lape Jr. in an isolated New Madrid County cornfield on July 7, 2002. Gill also alleged numerous errors by the trial judge prejudiced the jury against him.

In the high court's unanimous decision, Judge Stephen Limbaugh Jr. said numerous inconsistencies in Gill's story and his "self-serving account" that the accomplice fired the fatal bullet made his credibility an issue for the jury to decide. Limbaugh also rejected most of the claims of trial error and said no bias against Gill resulted.

At the time of the crime, Gill was living in a camper trailer on Lape's property. According to the facts as stated in the court's opinion, Gill and a friend, Justin Brown, decided to kill Lape after discovering he had a large amount of money in his bank account.

After abducting Lape, they drove him to a desolate area near Portageville where they dug a grave they pushed the victim into. The shooter then twice fired a pistol at Lape, but it misfired both times. On the third attempt, Lape was shot in the forehead.

Gill and Brown later withdrew several thousand dollars from Lape's bank account. Ultimately arrested in New Mexico, Gill confessed to planning and participating in the murder but alleged Brown pulled the trigger.

Limbaugh wrote that the jury's recommended sentence of death was warranted as Gill's conduct displayed "depravity of mind" and "a callous disregard" for human life.

"By his own account, he ignored Mr. Lape's pleas and stood by and did nothing as the gun twice misfired before Mr. Lape was shot and killed," Limbaugh wrote. "As Gill put it in his confession, he 'sold his soul' for money."

The New Madrid County jury that heard the case also convicted Gill of kidnapping, armed criminal action, first-degree robbery and first-degree tampering. In addition to the death penalty, he received consecutive sentences of life in prison plus 52 years on the other charges.

Gill, 34, is incarcerated at the Potosi Correctional Facility.

The case is State of Missouri v. Mark Anthony Gill.

mpowers@semissourian.com

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