THREE OTHERS SITTING ON DEATH ROW FOR AREA CRIMES

Jerome Mallett. Gary Roll. Andrew Lyons. Russell Bucklew.

The four men are of different ages and backgrounds, but they share a common circumstance: All are living on death row at the Potosi, Mo., Correctional Center for crimes committed in Cape Girardeau and Perry counties. They have spent a combined 28 years in the prison while appealing their convictions at the state and federal level.

The appeals process has ended for Roll and Mallett, who have spent the longest time on death row. After nearly seven years in prison, Roll, 48, is sentenced to die by lethal injection early Wednesday morning in connection with the 1992 deaths of Randy Scheper and his mother, Sherry.

A motion is currently before the Missouri Supreme Court requesting it to set an execution date for Mallett, 41, who was sentenced to death for the March 1985 slaying of Missouri Highway Patrol trooper James Froemsdorf of Cape Girardeau.

Bucklew and Lyons have both lost direct appeals of their murder convictions and are seeking post-conviction relief in state and federal courts.

Barring a stay, Roll will be the first from the area to be executed since Sammy Aire Tucker died by lethal gas in 1963 for the murders of Cape Girardeau police Lt. Donald Crittendon and auxiliary Officer Herbert Gross.

Jerome Mallet

Mallett, at 16 years, has lived on death row longer than all but 10 of the 80 inmates sentenced to die. He was convicted by a Schuyler County jury on a change of venue for killing Froemsdorf after a routine traffic stop along Interstate 55 near Biehle in Perry County.

According to his confession, Mallett was originally stopped by Froemsdorf for speeding but was arrested and handcuffed after the officer learned he was wanted in Texas on warrants for aggravated robbery and probation violation. Mallett suffered a childhood injury that allowed him to escape from handcuffs, which he did prior to shooting Froemsdorf. Two days later, Mallett was caught, waived his Miranda rights and gave a videotaped confession during which he claimed the shooting was accidental. Autopsy findings later proved the killing was not accidental.

In his latest appeal, Mallett, who is black, argued his Sixth Amendment rights were violated when the state trial court transferred his case to a county with few black residents and the jury considered "depravity of mind" in imposing the death sentence. He also argued that he was deprived of his constitutional rights to an impartial and disinterested trial judge and effective legal representation. The arguments were rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court in October 1999.

Andrew Lyons

In 1996, Andrew Lyons, 42, was convicted by a Scott County jury of the 1992 killings of his former girlfriend, Bridgette Harris, their 11-month old son, Dontay Harris, and Bridgette's mother, Evelyn Sparks. All were living in Cape Girardeau.

Lyons was originally declared unfit to stand trial. Prosecution was suspended after a mental evaluation indicated he was not mentally competent. Four years later, he was declared mentally fit and convicted of first-degree murder.

According to a confession by Lyons, he and Bridgette Harris had been living together for three years, along with their son and Harris' two children from a previous relationship. The couple began having problems in September 1992, and Harris took the children and moved in with her mother.

Lyons made two references in following weeks of his desire to kill Harris and Sparks. Two days before the murders, he threatened Harris and her older sister with a shotgun. They ran away and notified the police.

On Sept. 20, 1992, Lyons went to Sparks' home and argued with Harris. He left, went to his home and retrieved a shotgun and duffel bag loaded with clothes and ammunition, and returned to Sparks' house, where she was in the kitchen and Harris was with the children in the basement.

Lyons shot Sparks, walked down the stairs into the basement and shot Harris and their son, and then left the house. He then drove to the house where Jerry DePree, his step-brother, was staying and asked him to follow him to another friend's house so he could drop off his truck. Upon arriving at Gail Carter's house, Lyons told her he had committed the murders, then went outside and got into DePree's car and told him to drive away.

After telling DePree police were probably looking for him, Lyons left his shotgun in DePree's car and got out at Trail of Tears State Park. DePree turned the shotgun over to police later in the day after learning of the murders. Lyons was arrested that afternoon and confessed.

Russell Bucklew

Last October, the U.S. Supreme Court refused without comment to hear a direct appeal by Bucklew, 32, who was convicted of first-degree murder in 1996 for the shooting death of Michael Sanders at Sanders' mobile home in Cape Girardeau. He also was convicted of the kidnapping and rape of Stephanie Ray, his former girlfriend.

Bucklew became angry after Ray broke up with him on Valentine's Day, 1996. In the weeks that followed, Bucklew learned Ray was romantically involved with Sanders and attacked and threatened both.

On March 21, Bucklew followed Ray as she left work, ultimately discovering where she lived by following her to Sanders' mobile home. He later knocked on the door. Sanders saw him through a window and escorted children in the home to a back bedroom, where he grabbed a shotgun. As Sanders entered the hallway, Bucklew entered the trailer with a pistol in each hand and began shooting. Sanders was hit by two bullets and killed. Bucklew also fired a shot at Sanders' 6-year- old son but missed.

Ray stopped Bucklew from shooting Sanders again, but was handcuffed and dragged to a car. Bucklew headed towards St. Louis with Ray in the car. She was raped during the journey, which ended in a gunfight with state troopers who had identified the car from police reports. A trooper was injured in the fight, and Bucklew received a gunshot wound to the head.

In his appeals, Bucklew argued the statement made to police during an interview should have been suppressed because five days earlier he had invoked his right to remain silent. Defense attorneys also argued the statements were neither voluntary nor intelligent because of Bucklew's medical condition at the time they were made. They further argued other evidence, including statements made to Ray during the five-hour period she was held captive, were prejudicial and should not have been allowed.

The Missouri attorney general's office, which handles all death-penalty appeals in the state, successfully argued Bucklew's statements and other evidence presented during the trial were relevant and properly admitted. Bucklew also waived his rights in writing and made a voluntary statement on videotape that showed he was coherent and responsive.