High court upholds conviction in trooper death

ST. LOUIS -- The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday affirmed the conviction of a Southeast Missouri man on death row for the ambush killing of a state trooper in 2005.

Lance Shockley of the Southeast Missouri town of Van Buren was convicted of first-degree murder for killing Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Carl Dewayne Graham Jr., who was shot in the back of the head just as he had returned to his Van Buren home from work. Graham had been investigating Shockley for a fatal traffic accident.

Shockley, now 36, has been on death row since 2009. His appeal cited various alleged procedural errors at trial, claimed a juror was tainted and said the sentence didn't fit the crime. The Supreme Court disagreed in a unanimous ruling.

Attorney General Chris Koster said in a written statement Tuesday that "the entire law enforcement community" had been "devastated by the brutal and senseless murder."

"While the loss suffered by Sgt. Graham's family endures despite the ruling, I hope that today's judgment by the Court can bring them a small measure of closure," Koster said.

Messages seeking comment from Shockley's attorney were not immediately returned.

The crime happened March 20, 2005. Authorities said Shockley borrowed his grandmother's Pontiac Grand Am, asked for directions to Graham's home, then waited for the trooper to return. He knew the trooper was investigating a fatal hit-and-run accident that occurred months earlier. Shockley was suspected of being the fleeing driver.

Armed with a shotgun and a rifle, authorities said he fired a shot on the driveway of Graham's home that severed his spine. He suffered a skull fracture when he fell backward.

"A coward shot him in the back," Assistant Attorney General Kevin Zoellner said at Shockley's trial.

Two Van Buren residents testified to seeing a red car parked near Graham's house that afternoon.

Defense attorneys at trial argued the state had no eyewitness, no weapon, no DNA, and no ballistic or physical evidence tying Shockley to the crime. They said police focused on the wrong suspect.