Paul Kreutzer

Case overview

Paul Kreutzer lived less than a quarter of a mile from the Hemphill residence in Pike County near Louisiana, Missouri, with his adoptive parents following his parole from an Illinois prison in May 1992. On September 2, 1992, Louise Hemphill was murdered in the upstairs bedroom occupied by her daughters. Kreutzer was arrested later that evening in possession of the victim's purse, bloody gloves, duct tape, and a BB gun, and DNA analysis established a genetic match with him. A jury convicted Kreutzer of murder in the first degree and returned a sentence of death.

Timeline

• May 1992 — Kreutzer was paroled from an Illinois prison and returned to Pike County to live with his family.
• Last week of August 1992 — Kreutzer was arrested and later released in Columbia, Missouri, on a charge of indecent exposure.
• 9:41 a.m. (September 2, 1992) — Kreutzer bought a BB gun at a store in Louisiana, Missouri, and attempted to purchase BBs.
• Around 4:00 p.m. (September 2, 1992) — Jessie Hemphill arrived home from school, discovered her mother's nude body in the floor of her brother Luke’s bedroom, telephoned her father, and 911 was called.
• Evening of September 2, 1992 — Kreutzer was apprehended by police.
• 12/18/92 — Trial was moved to Callaway County on a change of venue at the request of the defendant.
• 03/21/94 — Trial began in Callaway County.
• 03/26/94 — The jury entered a verdict of guilty of murder first degree.
• 03/28/94 — The jury recommended a sentence of death.
• 06/06/94 — The court denied a motion for a new trial and sentenced Kreutzer to death.
• 11/29/94 — Kreutzer filed a motion in the circuit court for post-conviction relief.
• 07/17/95 — Kreutzer’s motion for post-conviction relief was denied by the circuit court.
• 08/20/96 — The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed Kreutzer’s conviction and sentence, and denial of PCR.
• 12/05/96 — A petition for certiorari was filed by the defendant.
• 01/13/97 — The United States Supreme Court denied Kreutzer’s petition for writ of certiorari.
• 01/27/98 — Kreutzer filed a petition of writ of habeas corpus in the U.S. District Court.
• 01/06/99 — The U.S. District Court denied the petition for habeas corpus.
• 11/15/00 — The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court’s denial of habeas corpus.
• 11/01/01 — The U.S. Supreme Court denied Kreutzer’s petition for writ of certiorari.
• 03/11/02 — The Missouri Supreme Court set April 10, 2002 as the execution date for Paul Kreutzer.
• 04/10/2002 — Paul Kreutzer was scheduled to be executed on April 10, 2002.

Background

Thirty-six-year-old Louise Hemphill lived with her husband and three children in Pike County near Louisiana, Missouri. Kreutzer lived less than a quarter of a mile from the Hemphill residence with his adoptive parents.

Kreutzer was paroled from prison in Illinois in May 1992 and returned to Pike County to live with his family. Later that year, Kreutzer met Louise Hemphill when he went to the Hemphill residence to look at a horse that was for sale.

In the last week of August 1992, Kreutzer was arrested and later released in Columbia, Missouri, on a charge of indecent exposure.

Kreutzer was born on February 22, 1972 in Gravette, Arkansas.

The offence

On the morning of September 2, 1992, Louise Hemphill’s husband left for work, and the two oldest children left for school. Hemphill drove her youngest child to school.

Later in the morning, Hemphill’s brother went to the Hemphill’s home and was the last person to see her alive. Hemphill customarily made a list of household tasks for the day with a time deadline by which she sought to complete each job. When the police later discovered the list, the chore with the time of 10:30 a.m. was crossed out, but the one listed for 11:00 a.m. was not.

The same morning, Kreutzer was observed in a number of locations in the vicinity of the Hemphill residence. He was seen pulling into a driveway adjacent to the school to which Hemphill had earlier driven her daughter. Kreutzer visited two area schools and offered to speak to students about the dangers of drugs and alcohol.

Around 4:00 p.m., the two Hemphill daughters, Janie and Jessie, arrived home from school. Jessie Hemphill went upstairs and discovered Hemphill’s nude body lying on the floor of her brother Luke’s bedroom. Jessie telephoned her father, who returned home, saw the body, and called 911.

Investigating officers observed signs of a sexual assault in the upstairs bedroom occupied by Jessie and Janie Hemphill. Lengths of duct tape were wrapped around the head and foot of one of the beds, and pieces of duct tape remained around Hemphill’s ankles. Hemphill’s clothing and a pair of sweatpants were on the floor next to the bed. A hair discovered on the sweatpants was consistent with Kreutzer’s pubic hair and inconsistent with the hair of any member of the Hemphill family.

At some point Hemphill escaped or Kreutzer released her from her bonds. The door to the master bedroom was found kicked in, with the door lock lying on the bedroom floor. Boot prints on the door were similar in sole pattern to the boots later seized from Kreutzer at the time of his arrest.

The Hemphills kept a .22 caliber pistol in a closet in the upstairs hall, with the ammunition normally stored in a bathroom adjoining the master bedroom. After the murder, officers found the weapon unloaded in the master bathroom.

Hemphill suffered multiple injuries. Kreutzer stabbed her in the neck, opening a jugular vein. Bloodstains and duct tape were discovered in the bathroom and master bedroom, apparently tracked in by Hemphill as she ran from the bathroom. Kreutzer struck Hemphill in the head at least three times with a baseball bat kept in her son’s room. The blows from the bat dislocated a vertebra in Hemphill’s neck and brain matter was leaking from the wound.

Although the head injuries would have been fatal, the immediate cause of death was strangulation. Kreutzer looped a belt around Hemphill’s neck and strangled her. The strangulation probably took from three to four minutes to complete, and Hemphill may have been conscious for one or two minutes. A bloodstained hunting knife kept in the Hemphills’ kitchen was found lying on Hemphill’s body. Hemphill’s purse was missing from the house.

Investigation and evidence

Kreutzer was arrested on the evening of September 2, and police recovered evidence from his car and from the motel room where he stayed.

Officers who searched Kreutzer’s car recovered, among other things, the victim’s billfold/purse, a pair of gloves with human bloodstains on it, a roll of duct tape, and the BB gun Kreutzer had purchased that morning along with a package of BBs and a receipt for their purchase. A search of the motel room where Kreutzer stayed revealed, among other things, a pair of jeans with human bloodstains and a receipt for the purchase of the BB gun. Police also seized Kreutzer’s boots and ninety-seven dollars in cash from his person. Soon after police searched Kreutzer’s car, a law enforcement officer placed Kreutzer in custody.

DNA analysis established a genetic match with Kreutzer. DNA analysis of semen found on the bed cover and on Hemphill’s face and pubic area established a genetic match with Kreutzer, with a band pattern that occurs once every 150,000 times in the Caucasian population and once every 500,000 times in the African-American population. Bloodstains on the bed cover and sweatpants matched Hemphill’s blood and Kreutzer’s blood.

Arrest

Kreutzer was apprehended on the evening of September 2. Officers found the victim’s billfold/purse, bloody gloves, duct tape, and a BB gun in his car and motel room.

Trial

Kreutzer was tried and convicted of murder in the first degree. The trial court fixed punishment at death.

In the guilt phase, Kreutzer relied on a defense of diminished capacity, claiming that he suffered from a mental disease or defect that prevented him from acting with deliberation, referencing § 552.015.2(8), RSMo 1986.

In the penalty phase, Kreutzer presented witnesses in mitigation including a woman who, on the night of the murder, was aided by Kreutzer when she was stranded on the road with a flat tire. Kreutzer also called his former landlord and her daughter, both of whom lived in the same apartment building as Kreutzer for one year.

A psychologist testified that Kreutzer suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder as a result of past physical and emotional abuse.

The jury returned a sentence of death, finding that the evidence established the following statutory aggravating circumstances:

• Kreutzer committed the murder while engaged in the perpetration of the felony of burglary, section 565.032.2(11), RSMo 1986.
• Kreutzer committed the offense of murder in the first degree for the purpose of receiving money or any other thing of monetary value for himself from Louise Hemphill, section 565.032.2(4), RSMo 1986.

Sentencing

The trial court sentenced Kreutzer to death on June 6, 1994 after denying a motion for a new trial.

Appeals

The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed Kreutzer’s conviction and sentence and denial of PCR on August 20, 1996 in Kreutzer v. State, 928 S.W. 2d 584 (Mo. 1996) (Direct Appeal).

Kreutzer filed a petition for certiorari, and the United States Supreme Court denied it on January 13, 1997.

Kreutzer filed a petition of writ of habeas corpus in the U.S. District Court on January 27, 1998, and the District Court denied it on January 6, 1999.

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court’s denial of habeas corpus on November 15, 2000.

Kreutzer filed another petition for writ of certiorari, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied it on November 1, 2001.

Other criminal history

Kreutzer had been convicted of three counts of burglary and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery in Adams County, Illinois. He was sentenced to three and a half years and three years concurrent sentences in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Other details

Kreutzer was observed in the vicinity of the Hemphill residence and was seen pulling into a driveway adjacent to the school to which Hemphill had earlier driven her daughter.

In the last week of August, Kreutzer was arrested and later released in Columbia, Missouri, on a charge of indecent exposure.

At some point before police found her body, Hemphill escaped or Kreutzer released her from her bonds.

Kreutzer’s final meal was: grilled ham & cheese sandwich, onion rings, cheesecake and milk. Kreutzer’s final words were none.

Outcome

Kreutzer was scheduled to be executed in Missouri on April 10, 2002, by lethal injection.

The Missouri Supreme Court had set April 10, 2002 as the execution date for Paul Kreutzer on March 11, 2002.