Milton Griffin-El

Case details

Milton Griffin-El was executed by lethal injection in Missouri on March 25, 1998. He was 37 at the time of execution.

Timeline

• 1979 10/09 — Milton Griffin-El pleaded guilty to Burglary Second Degree in the City of St. Louis and was sentenced to 90 days in the St. Louis Medium Security institution.
• 1981 03/24 — Milton Griffin-El pleaded guilty Attempted Burglary Second Degree and was sentenced to one year in the St. Louis County Jail.
• 1986 8/14 — Griffin-El participated in the murders of Jerome Redden and Loretta Trotter in the City of St. Louis.
• 1986 9/9 — Griffin-El was indicted for two counts of murder first degree, two counts of robbery first degree, stealing a motor vehicle and knowingly burning.
• 1987 2/7 — Griffin-El was charged by amended information as a prior and Class X offender.
• 1987 6/22 — Griffin-El was tried in the St. Louis City Circuit Court.
• 1987 6/30 — Griffin-El was convicted of two counts of murder first degree. The jury sentenced Griffin-El to life imprisonment without parole in the murder of Loretta Trotter and deadlocked on punishment for the murder of Jerome Redden.
• 1987 7/7 — The trial court imposed a sentence of death for the murder of Jerome Redden.
• 1987 8/7 — Griffin-El’s motion for a new trial was denied.
• 1988 6/29 — Griffin-El filed a motion for post-conviction relief.
• 1989 8/21 — The Circuit Court denied the motion for post-conviction relief.
• 1989 8/29 — The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed Griffin-El’s convictions and sentences.
• 1990 7/31 — The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed the denial for post-conviction relief.
• 1991 7/5 — Griffin-El filed a petition for habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
• 1993 1/13 — Habeas corpus petition was held in the United States District Court.
• 1996 7/31 — Petition for habeas corpus was denied and certificate of probable cause to appeal was issued.
• 1996 9/27 — Notice of Appeal was filed in the United States Eighth Court of Appeals.
• 1996 10/7 — Appeal was docketed by the U. S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
• 1996 10/22 — Respondent moved to quash the certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal.
• 1996 11/4 — U. S. Court of Appeals ordered Griffin-El to show why a certificate of appealability should not be denied.
• 1996 12/30 — Griffin-El responded to the show cause order.
• 1997 3/21 — The U. S. Court of Appeals denied the certificate of appealability, quashed the certificate of probable cause and dismissed the appeal.
• 1997 8/11 — Griffin-El’s petition for a rehearing en banc was denied.
• 1997 9/4 — The U. S. Court of Appeals issued its mandate.
• 1998 1/20 — The U. S. Supreme Court denied certiorari and the State of Missouri filed a motion to set an execution date in the Missouri Supreme Court.
• 1998 2/10 — The Missouri Supreme Court set an execution date for March 25, 1998.

Background

In 1986, Milton Griffin-El and a cohort, Antoine Owens, visited Jerome Redden and his girlfriend, Loretta Trotter, to steal stereo equipment from their St. Louis apartment.

The offence

On August 14, 1986, Milton Griffin-El and five other individuals met to discuss a burglary and robbery. The intended victims were Mr. Jerome Redden and his girlfriend, Ms. Loretta Trotter, who lived with their four-month-old son in Redden’s apartment, located above the Redden Cleaners, a family owned business.

One of the group, Antoine Owens, knew that Jerome Redden owned some stereo and television equipment because Owens had visited the apartment on occasion with his girlfriend, Pamela Trotter, Loretta Trotter’s sister. Owens told the others that following the burglary he would have to kill Redden and Loretta Trotter because they knew him.

Later that day, Griffin-El, Owens and three others went to Redden’s apartment. Griffin-El and Owens knocked on the door and asked Redden for a ride home. Redden asked Loretta Trotter if it was all right for the men to come upstairs, but she told him no. When Redden returned he told the two men that they could not enter the apartment. Griffin-El and Owens forced their way into the apartment.

The two men told Redden and Trotter to lie on the floor in the living room. Trotter begged the two men not to hurt them and told them that her four-month-old baby was also in the apartment. Griffin-El decided that Redden and Trotter needed to be tied up. After Trotter was tied up with an extension cord, Griffin-El told Owens to take Redden into the kitchen and tie him up.

After Owens took Redden into the kitchen, Griffin-El choked Trotter until she passed out. Griffin-El then went to the kitchen where he began to tie up Redden. Owens returned to the living room to check on Trotter and the two struggled.

Griffin-El tied Trotter up a second time with torn bed sheets. Griffin-El returned to the kitchen and asked Redden where the money was. Redden continued to reply "don't hurt her." Griffin-El began strangling Redden with an extension cord and torn bed sheets.

In the living room, Owens stabbed Trotter twice in the lower chest and four times in the throat with a steak knife. Trotter died from a stab wound that penetrated her heart. Redden then continued to yell from the kitchen, and Griffin-El hit Redden in the back of- the head with a wrench that he had secured from the kitchen area. The blow knocked Redden out, and Owens stabbed Redden twice in the abdomen with the steak knife. As Redden came to he began struggling, and Griffin-El stabbed him with a butcher knife four times in the chest.

The Medical Examiner ruled that the blow to Redden’s head was the cause of death.

The two men covered Redden and Trotter with bed sheets. Griffin-El took the wrench and threw it into a trashcan. Owens took the two knives out of the apartment and disposed of them.

The men waiting downstairs helped load the stolen stereo and television equipment into a van owned by Redden Cleaners. Griffin-El had taken the keys for the van from victim Redden.

Redden and Trotter’s four-month-old baby was left unharmed in the apartment.

Investigation and arrest

Four days later, Pamela Trotter overheard Griffin-El describe the beating and murder of Redden and her sister. The police were contacted, and they arrested Owens and two other men.

Griffin-El called Owens’ mother and reported that the three men had nothing to do with the crime and that he had killed the couple. Griffin-El also told Mrs. Owens that he was going to kill Pamela Trotter for reporting the crime to the police. Following his statements, Griffin-El was subsequently arrested.

Trial

Charges

Griffin-El was indicted for two counts of murder first degree, two counts of robbery first degree, stealing a motor vehicle and knowingly burning.

Convictions and jury sentencing

Griffin-El was convicted of two counts of murder first degree.

After the jury deadlocked 10-2 in favor of the death penalty, Circuit Judge James J. Gallagher exercised discretion to impose the sentence. On July 7, 1987, the trial court imposed a sentence of death for the murder of Jerome Redden.

Sentencing

Prior to the jury deadlock, Griffin-El told the court he was sorry, adding:

"If there was some kind of way I could bring these 2 people back, even with execution of my life, I would do it."

At the time of execution, he 37.

Appeals

Griffin-El sought to appeal the sentence to the 8th Circuit, claiming race discrimination because he was black and 10 of the 12 jurors were white. The 8th Circuit refused to hear the case, citing a 1996 rule change aimed at limiting federal appeals in death penalty cases.

On Monday, the US Supreme Court refused Griffin-El’s appeal that the 8th Circuit ruling was improper since it retroactively applied the 1996 rule to a decade-old case.

Outcome

Milton Griffin-El was executed on March 25, 1998 at 12:05 a.m. at the Potosi Correctional Center. As the doses were administered, Griffin-El smiled.

Shortly before his execution, Griffin-El said:

"Tell my son and family that I love them,"

A few minutes earlier, he asked the families of his victims and God to forgive him.

Aftermath

Germaine, the four-month-old son of Jerome Redden and Loretta Trotter, was crying in his bed when a Redden family member discovered the bodies later that day. The relative entered the apartment because police had found the Redden Laundry van on fire just south of downtown.

The couple’s 4-month-old son, Germaine, was placed for adoption. Rosie Redden said Germaine was placed for adoption and that she no longer had contact with Trotter’s family, who could not be reached.

Rosie Redden, age 67, operated the laundry at the same location but said she never again entered or rented out the apartment upstairs. She said:

"When I come to work, I can't even look over at that door,"

Rosie Redden also said:

"He took 2 lives for a robbery. He deserves to die."

Gerald Sims, the defense attorney, said:

"was a drugged-out street punk at the time of the crime. He is far from that now."

While in prison, Griffin-El taught nonviolence to prisoners. He said Tuesday he was sorry for the anguish he caused the victims’ families, adding:

"I hope that maybe, if I am executed, my death will bring some healing to them."

Antoine Owens was convicted of Trotter's murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.