Michael Shane Roberts

Case overview

Michael Shane Roberts was sentenced to death for the murder of his neighbor and friend, Mary Taylor. He was executed in Missouri by lethal injection on October 3, 2001.

Timeline

• 1994-02-17 — Michael Roberts murdered Mary Taylor in St. Louis County.
• 1994-03-24 — Roberts indicted on one county of Murder First Degree, Burglary Second Degree, Stealing a Motor Vehicle and two counts of Armed Criminal Action.
• 1995-03-20 — Roberts trial began in the St. Louis County Circuit Court.
• 1995-03-28 — Roberts convicted of Murder First Degree.
• 1995-03-29 — The jury returned sentence of death.
• 1995-05-06 — Roberts sentenced to death on the murder conviction.
• 1995-06-01 — Roberts appealed to Missouri Supreme Court.
• 1995-09-29 — Roberts filed a motion for post-conviction relief.
• 1996-05-15 — The St. Louis Circuit Court denied Roberts motion for post-conviction relief.
• 1997-06-17 — The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed Roberts' judgement and sentence and affirmed the denial of Roberts' motion for post-conviction relief.
• 1998-01-12 — The United States Supreme Court declined to review Roberts' state appeal.
• 1999-01-11 — Roberts filed petition for writ of habeas.
• 2000-04-12 — The United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit Court denied Roberts' application for certificate of appealability.
• 2000-05-23 — The U. S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit Court issued its mandate.
• 2000-12-04 — The U. S. Supreme Court declined to review Roberts' habeas petition.
• 2001-07-31 — The Missouri Supreme Court set October 3, 2001 as the execution date for Michael Roberts.
• 2001-10-03 — Michael Roberts was executed by lethal injection in Missouri.

The offence

Michael Roberts and his friends ran out of money to purchase crack cocaine. Roberts promised his friends that he would get some money. He retrieved a ball peen hammer at his house and went to the home of a neighbor, Mary Taylor, whom he considered a friend.

Roberts went to Mary Taylor’s home around 10:30 p.m., where he and Mary Taylor watched television for awhile. Around 11:00 p.m., after receiving a telephone call from her nephew, Mary Taylor told Roberts she wanted to go to sleep and asked him to leave. As the two walked towards the door, Roberts pushed Mary Taylor over a table and began hitting her in the head with the hammer. He hit her in the head with the hammer more than fifteen times, went into the kitchen to find Mary Taylor’s purse, and rummaged through it until he heard Mary move in the front room. Roberts returned to the living room where he kicked Mary Taylor in the head and the side, telling her to be quiet. He then took the telephone cord from the wall and strangled Mary Taylor, but she continued to breathe.

Roberts went back to the kitchen where he grabbed a steak knife and stabbed Mary Taylor repeatedly. After tossing the steak knife aside, he got a butcher knife and stabbed Mary Taylor again. He then filled a large soup pan with water, held Mary Taylor’s face under water, and released her head when her body started to twitch.

Roberts took an answering machine and $200 and left. He left the hammer and his baseball cap at the scene.

Roberts returned to the scene on two different occasions following the murder: first to steal more valuables and her car, and second to report the crime to the police. Roberts provided the police with a videotaped confession. Physical evidence and eyewitness testimony also linked Roberts to the crime.

Investigation and confession

In interviews referenced later, Roberts refused to discuss the 1994 killing of Mary Taylor, aside from calling it a “spontaneous” byproduct of a two-week bender on everything from cocaine to PCP and marijuana.

Arrest and trial

Roberts’ trial began in the St. Louis County Circuit Court on March 20, 1995. He was convicted of Murder First Degree on March 28, 1995. On March 29, 1995, the jury returned sentence of death. He was sentenced to death on May 6, 1995.

Sentencing and legal proceedings

Roberts was indicted on March 24, 1994 on one county of Murder First Degree, Burglary Second Degree, Stealing a Motor Vehicle and two counts of Armed Criminal Action.

Roberts appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court on June 1, 1995. He filed a motion for post-conviction relief on September 29, 1995. The St. Louis Circuit Court denied Roberts’ motion for post-conviction relief on May 15, 1996. On June 17, 1997, the Missouri Supreme Court affirmed Roberts' judgement and sentence and affirmed the denial of Roberts' motion for post-conviction relief.

The United States Supreme Court declined to review Roberts’ state appeal on January 12, 1998. Roberts filed petition for writ of habeas on January 11, 1999. The United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit Court denied Roberts’ application for certificate of appealability on April 12, 2000. On May 23, 2000, the U. S. On December 4, 2000, the U. S.

Appeals and further proceedings

The Missouri Supreme Court set October 3, 2001 as the execution date for Michael Roberts on July 31, 2001.

Execution

Michael Roberts was executed early on October 3, 2001. He died at the Potosi Correctional Center, four minutes after the first of three lethal doses was administered. The execution occurred at 12:05 a.m.

The execution was described as coming after the U.S. Supreme Court and Gov. Bob Holden refused to halt the execution. Missouri’s sixth execution that year was referenced.

On the day before his execution, Roberts told The Associated Press that: “I want to be executed. I'm ready to go.”

In interviews this week, Roberts refused to discuss the 1994 killing of Mary Taylor, aside from calling it a "spontaneous'' byproduct of a two-week bender on everything from cocaine to PCP and marijuana.

Other details

Roberts was described as having been convicted of beating a grandmother to death with a hammer before stealing her money to buy crack cocaine. He was also described as being sentenced to death for a murder of his neighbor and friend, Mary Taylor. Roberts was identified as 27 years old at the time of execution.

The trial included requests by Roberts’ lawyers to spare his life, citing his troubled upbringing and his lawyers’ assertions that it included mental, physical and sexual abuse by his father and years of untreated mental illness.

A neurologist/psychiatrist described electroencephalogram (EEG) findings as brain abnormalities in the frontal lobe similar to those present in a patient with epilepsy. The doctor testified these abnormalities occurred in an area of the brain “having to do with emotional control,” including the part “associated with impulsive behavior, (inhibition), mood swings, loss of judgment, reasoning, insight.” The material also stated that: “He also noted that it is impossible for a patient to fake an EEG test result.”

The material further stated that prosecutors cast doubt on the test’s accuracy by suggesting the machine was defective because a freak car accident had damaged an unrelated component of the machine.

The material stated that Roberts’ lawyers suggested his case was one of “institutional failure” where tools society had established for identifying and treating an at-risk child or youth had not worked, and that if he “had received the help society holds itself out to provide, the act of violence for which a prosecutor (sought) the death penalty would not have occurred.”

Roberts’ life was described as revolving around crack cocaine and the need to produce money to fund his habit, following a period when he and his friends ran out of drugs and money.