Jeffrey Tokar

Case record: Jeffrey Tokar

Timeline

• March 11, 1992 — Jeffrey Tokar picked up his girlfriend, Sandra Stickley, shared some beer, and the pair drove in a rural area north of Centralia to find a place where nobody was home.
• Around noon on March 11, 1992 — Tokar and Stickley located the empty Douglass residence, parked in the driveway, and Tokar took his socks off and placed them on his hands to avoid leaving fingerprints before going inside the garage.
• March 13, 1992 — Tokar and Stickley were arrested.
• May 26, 1994 — Tokar filed a pro se motion to vacate his conviction pursuant to Rule 29.15.
• July 25, 1994 — Appointed counsel filed an amended motion pursuant to Rule 29.15.
• August 27, 1993 — The trial court imposed the death sentence.
• August 28, 1995 — The defense obtained a new psychological report.
• February 10, 1995 — The motion court denied Tokar’s Rule 29.15 motion in all respects.
• April 6, 1993 — Dr. A. E. Daniel completed a psychiatric evaluation of Jeff Tokar.
• March 19, 1998 — The U.S. District Court denied Tokar’s petition for writ of habeas corpus.
• December 8, 1999 — The Eighth Circuit issued its opinion denying Tokar habeas relief.
• October 15, 1996 — The U.S. Supreme Court denied Tokar’s petition for writ of certiorari.
• May 23, 1997 — Tokar filed a petition of writ of habeas corpus in the U.S. District Court.
• March 26, 1996 — The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed Tokar’s conviction and sentence.
• 10/02/00 — The U.S. Supreme Court denied Tokar’s petition for certiorari.
• February 4, 2002 — The Missouri Supreme Court set March 6, 2002 as the execution date for Jeffrey Tokar.
• March 6, 2002 — Tokar was executed by lethal injection in Missouri at Potosi Correctional Center; he died at 12:04 a.m., three minutes after the first of three injections was administered.

Background

Jeffrey Tokar and his girlfriend, Sandra Stickley, drove together in a rural area north of Centralia looking for a place where nobody was home. They located an empty Douglass residence and parked in the driveway.

The offence

After parking in the driveway, Tokar took his socks off and placed them on his hands to avoid leaving fingerprints, then went inside the garage.

Later, Tokar returned with a shotgun and shells he had found in the home and motioned for Stickley to come in. As the Douglass family was returning home during the late afternoon, Tokar and Stickley were ransacking the Douglass home and stuffing items into empty pillowcases.

Johnny Douglass returned home after checking on cattle and entered with his four-year-old daughter, Lynzie, and his eight-year-old son, Jarad. Johnny told the children to stay in the truck as he went into the garage to investigate, but Lynzie left the truck to follow her father. Jarad also left the truck and went into the garage.

Stickley testified that she heard one of the children say, “Mister, please don’t hurt my daddy.” She also heard Johnny Douglass plead: “Mister, please don’t hurt me. I’ll do anything you say.” Stickley further explained that Tokar told Johnny not to look at him.

Stickley heard one shot and then a second shot. Tokar and Stickley ran to the car and threw the shotgun in the backseat. As they sped away, Tokar wiped down the gun with his shirt and took a shell out of the gun. Tokar stopped to throw the gun and shell into a nearby farm pond.

Jarad ran to a neighbor’s house; the neighbor called 911 and took the two children to their grandparents’ house.

Investigation and arrest

When police arrived on the scene, they found Johnny Douglass in a pool of blood on the garage floor. Johnny had been shot once in the face and once in the back of the head. One detective determined, based on blood spatter evidence, that Johnny was low to the ground, or bent over, when the second shot was fired.

Police found a bloody shoe imprint and items that included electronic equipment piled on a table and pillowcases stuffed with silverware, clothing and cosmetics. Police recovered a box of .410 shotgun shells, but Johnny Douglass’s shotgun was not found in the house.

About five days later, the shotgun was found at the bottom of a nearby farm pond, and the shell was found floating on the pond. Stickley had informed police that Tokar had thrown the shotgun into a pond near the road after the shooting.

Tokar and Stickley were arrested on March 13, 1992. At first, Stickley denied knowing about the burglary and murder, but later confessed that she was with Tokar during the incident and told police that Tokar admitted to her that he shot Johnny Douglass. Tokar and Stickley were arrested on a warrant issued by an Audrain County judge based only on a complaint signed by the prosecutor; the complaint alleged Tokar committed the murder and contained no facts constituting probable cause for that belief. At the time of Tokar’s arrest, officers did not have probable cause to arrest him. The arrest was challenged in subsequent proceedings.

A post-arrest lineup identification of Tokar was performed by three different individuals.

During a conversation after the shooting, Tokar told Stickley: “Sandy, I did kill this man ... I shot half the side of his face off and then when he started to get back up I blowed the back of his head off.” Tokar also told Stickley: “I should have killed the kids so no one could testify and say that we were there.”

Trial

Tokar was charged with first degree murder.

Tokar declined to testify at both the guilt and penalty phases of the trial. On both occasions, the trial court voir dired Tokar concerning his decisions; Tokar responded to the court’s questioning in a reasonable manner and gave no indication of any incompetence.

During the guilt phase, the jury convicted Tokar of murder and found two statutory aggravating circumstances:

1. that the murder was outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or inhuman in that it involved torture, or depravity of mind, per § 565.032.2(7);
2. that the murder was committed while the defendant was engaged in the perpetration of a burglary, per § 565.032.2(11).

The trial court denied Tokar’s motion for a new trial and imposed the death sentence on August 27, 1993. Tokar filed a pro se motion pursuant to Rule 29.15 on May 26, 1994, and appointed counsel filed an amended motion on July 25, 1994.

Stickley entered a plea of guilty to second degree murder and was sentenced to twenty years in exchange for her cooperation in testifying against Tokar.

Motion for continuance

On March 1, 1993, one week before trial, Tokar made a motion for a continuance at a pretrial hearing. He stated that the primary reason for the motion was a desire to obtain a further medical examination.

Tokar had already been examined by Dr. Cowan, a neuro-psychologist, and by Dr. Daniel, a medical doctor specializing in psychiatry.

Sentencing

The trial court imposed the death sentence on August 27, 1993 after the jury recommended death and found the two statutory aggravating circumstances.

At sentencing, the jury recommended death and the trial court agreed.

Appeals and post-conviction proceedings

Tokar filed a pro se Rule 29.15 motion and later an amended Rule 29.15 motion. The motion court found Tokar’s claims without merit and denied the motion in all respects on February 10, 1995. Tokar did not present testimony on his alleged trial counsel’s ineffective assistance during the post-conviction relief hearing on December 12, 1994.

Tokar appealed. The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and sentence on March 26, 1996.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied Tokar’s petition for writ of certiorari on October 15, 1996, and later on 10/02/00.

Tokar filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the U.S. District Court on May 23, 1997; the district court denied it on March 19, 1998. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the denial on December 8, 1999.

In related federal habeas proceedings, summary judgment was entered in favor of former prison officials and an appeal was affirmed, involving claims about segregated unit conditions for HIV-positive inmates and placement violating constitutional right to privacy. The appellate decision affirmed all holdings stated below:

• former inmate failed to show that combination of broken windows and leaking roof caused deprivation of human need;
• former inmate failed to show that former prison officials had actual knowledge of alleged substantial risk of harm presented by conditions;
• former prison officials were entitled to qualified immunity with regard to the right to privacy claim.

Outcome

Tokar was executed by lethal injection in Missouri on March 6, 2002. He died at 12:04 a.m., three minutes after the first of three injections was administered at Potosi Correctional Center.

Tokar appeared to be singing until he lost consciousness.

Jeffrey Tokar made the following statements as a prepared final statement: “A dying man should always tell the truth, and the truth isn't necessarily what a person hears, but what they choose to believe,” Tokar said in a prepared final statement. “Praise the Lord, I am on my way.”

Governor Bob Holden denied clemency for Jeffrey Tokar, removing the last apparent legal barrier before his execution. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Tokar’s appeal, marking the fourth time the court refused to halt the execution.

Other details

Criminal history (previous arrests and sentences)

• On February 12, 1983, Tokar was arrested for Assault with Minor Injury and was sentenced to pay $75.00 plus court costs.
• On July 28, 1983, Tokar was arrested in Boone County, Missouri, for Blood Alcohol Content and was sentenced to seven days in the Boone County Jail.
• On July 28, 1983, Tokar was also arrested for Driving While Intoxicated and was sentenced to six months in the Boone County Jail; the execution of sentence was suspended and he was placed on probation for two years.
• On July 1, 1985, Tokar was arrested for Battery and sentenced to 14 days in the county jail.
• On June 21, 1987, Tokar was arrested for Larceny and Shoplifting Under $50.00 and sentenced to 30 days in the Boone County Jail and fined $125.00 and court costs.
• On February 14, 1989, Tokar was arrested for Damage to City Property and was fined $300.00.
• On May 23, 1989, Tokar was arrested in Boone County for Driving While Intoxicated and Stealing without Consent; he was sentenced to three years in the Missouri Department of Corrections on each charge to run concurrently.
• On November 4, 1991, Tokar was sentenced to two concurrent seven-year sentences in the Missouri Department of Corrections from Boone County for two counts of Receiving Stolen Property over $150.
• On March 13, 1993, Tokar was arrested for Murder First Degree in Audrain County; on August 27, 1993, he was sentenced to death.

Victims and persons mentioned

Johnny Douglass was murdered. His children were Lynzie Douglass and Jarad Douglass. Tammy Douglass was also named in relation to the Douglass residence.

Clemency-related account

Jeffrey Tokar sought clemency and asked the governor to commute his sentence from death to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, or alternatively to grant a reprieve and convene a board of inquiry. Governor Bob Holden denied clemency.

Participants at the execution

State law prohibited Douglass’s children, Jarad and Lynzie, from witnessing the execution because they were not yet 21. Stuart Miller, the Audrain County Sheriff who investigated the murder, was at the prison. Seven family members witnessed the execution but declined to speak with the media afterward. Stuart Miller said: “I'm a strong believer and supporter in the death penalty,” Miller said. “I don't know if I really want to witness one, but I feel an obligation to the family as the investigator, so that's why I'm going to be there.”