Stacey Lannert

Case identity

Name: Stacey Ann Lannert Also known as: Stacey Lannert Date of birth: May 28, 1972 Age at the time of the killing: 18 Places: St. Louis, Missouri; St. John, Missouri

STATUS and clemency

On January 10, 2009, outgoing Missouri Governor Matt Blunt commuted Stacey Lannert’s sentence and that of another woman convicted under similar circumstances. Lannert’s new sentence was 20 years, which made her eligible for immediate conditional release. She was released on January 16, 2009.

The commutation was accompanied by the following statement by Matt Blunt:

"After an exhaustive review of the facts in both cases, I am commuting the sentences of Stacey Lannert and Charity Carey, who suffered extensive abuse before they took action against the men who raped them and subjected them to other horrible physical and emotional abuse."

Background

Stacey Lannert was serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole for the murder of her father, Tom Lannert. She was convicted of murder in the first degree and armed criminal action.

Stacey Lannert’s sister, Christy (born 1974, and referenced as 14-year-old at the time of the killing in one section), was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, received a five-year prison sentence, and was released after serving two and one half years.

Lannert ran “Healing Sisters,” a resource website and non-profit agency to end sexual abuse in America. She also trained service dogs for the handicapped in a selective organization called C.H.A.M.P.S. She was president of the Outreach program, an organization that brought troubled teens to prison for a wake up call. She was described as a “model prisoner,” active in community projects, and helping other survivors of incest and abuse.

Lannert was a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show on May 14, 2009, The Joy Behar Show on March 16, 2011, and Piers Morgan Tonight on April 20, 2011.

The offence

Killing of Tom Lannert

Stacey Lannert was convicted for the murder of her father, Tom Lannert, who was asleep on the couch in the family’s home.

At approximately 4:15 to 4:30 a.m. on July 4, 1990, Lannert returned home with her sister to get their dog and then planned to spend the night at a motel. Lannert did not enter through the door but through a basement window. In the basement, she saw the rifle leaning against a chair.

In her subsequent confession to police, Lannert stated:

"I decided at that moment that I was going to do it, I was going to kill him."

She walked upstairs and shot her father first in the shoulder while he was lying “passed out” on the couch. The bullet broke his collar bone and awakened him. He jumped up and asked Lannert to telephone for help. Lannert went downstairs to look for a phone and thought to herself, “He didn't deserve to live.” She returned to find him again lying on the couch and then shot her father at point-blank range in the head, thereby killing him.

After the murder, Lannert took the rifle and left through the basement window in which she had entered the house. She and her sister spent the night at a motel. The next day she took the rifle to Ron Barnett for him to dispose of; Barnett sold the rifle to a friend and later informed the police to whom he sold it. Lannert and Jason Fortune then staged a scene in which Fortune said loudly so neighbors could hear, “Stacey, call the police.” Lannert then ran to a neighbor’s home, upset and crying. The neighbor went to Lannert’s house, discovered the body, and called for emergency help.

Confession and claimed abuse context

Stacey Lannert claimed that her father had sexually abused her from the age of eight, and she also claimed he was an alcoholic with a violent temper. She said she entered her home via a basement window at approximately 4:15–4:30 a.m. with the rifle, saw it, and decided to kill her father.

Lannert said she had brought the rifle to her grandparent’s home in Illinois to practice using it. She also later said that after the first shot broke his collarbone, her father asked her to phone for help, and that at first she complied but then returned and shot him in the head at point-blank range.

Lannert cited the sexual abuse of her younger sister, Christy, as a catalyst. Several expert witnesses testified at both Lannert’s trial and appeal, agreeing that Lannert showed signs of abuse.

The case involved allegations by prosecutors that she murdered her father because she wanted his money. Evidence introduced at her trial showed that she had explored several possible methods of killing her father over an extended period, discussed plans and made preparations with others, and openly considered the financial gains she would inherit after her father’s death.

Investigation and arrest

Fortune implicated Lannert while the police were questioning her and seeking information about whether her father had enemies or whether she knew anyone who might have had motivation to kill him. Lannert was not considered a suspect at first. After Fortune implicated her, she became a suspect and was read her Miranda rights, after which she gave a statement admitting her guilt.

In one account, she also reenacted the murder for the police officers while being videotaped.

Charges and trial

Charges

Lannert was charged with murder in the first degree and other related felonies. The jury found her guilty of murder in the first degree and armed criminal action.

Defence theories and rulings

Lannert’s defense was not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. Her lawyer attempted to introduce “battered spouse syndrome” evidence. A pre-trial ruling excluded mention of battered spouse syndrome until self-defense was injected into the case, but allowed Lannert “to make an offer of proof showing evidence injecting self-defense in order to mention Battered Spouse Syndrome in her opening statement and trial.”

The trial court declined to include any claim of self-defense in instructions to the jury. The trial court concluded there was no basis in the evidence for self-defense because Lannert’s testimony indicated her father was passed out and drunk, or at least asleep, when she fired the first shot.

In one appellate discussion, the trial court excluded battered spouse syndrome mention until self-defense was injected, while allowing evidence of alleged abuse to aid in establishing her mental disease or defect defence and to aid in refuting the State’s claim that she met all the crimes’ elements.

Jury verdict and sentencing

The jury found Lannert guilty. She was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of probation or parole on the murder count. A concurrent term of three years was imposed for the armed criminal action conviction in one appellate section.

Evidence details supporting motive and preparation

Lannert had discussed killing her father or having him killed. A friend, Ron Barnett, told her what to do to her father’s car so that it would explode when he was in it; this plan did not work. Barnett advised her on how to shoot her father in a way that the police would suspect a burglar did it.

She fraudulently used her father’s credit cards and cashed checks on his bank account, instructed male friends to pose as her father on the telephone to verify authority when a check-cashing business would call, and used some of the fraud proceeds to buy herself a car stereo, buy gifts and dinners, pay Barnett’s rent, and pay for the hotel where she stayed the night of the murder.

Several days before the murder, Lannert told Jason Fortune that her father owned a certificate of deposit worth at least $100,000, and that if he were to die she would get that money. Fortune testified that Lannert had fantasized about what she could buy with the money. After Lannert’s father died, the estate was described as valued at $482,000, including a $100,000 certificate of deposit, a little under $50,000 in a savings account, and a life insurance policy with death benefits of $180,000.

Time served and appeal history

Missouri appeal

A Missouri Court of Appeals decision affirmed the trial judge.

In an appellate discussion, the issue regarding battered spouse syndrome was said not to be preserved for appeal because Lannert presented no evidence of self-defense and did not make an offer of proof. The appellate court also rejected the claim about refusal to instruct the jury on self-defense.

United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (habeas)

Lannert filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The district court denied it and issued a certificate of appealability on claims involving exclusion of battered spouse syndrome evidence and refusal to instruct on self-defense.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed the denial. The opinion included the following language in describing concerns about the jury being informed of the scope of abuse:

"The 'absence of aggression or provocation on the part of the defender' element of the Missouri self-defense statute does not articulate a time frame during which the initial act of aggression and the act of self-defense must occur. It is therefore deeply troubling that the jury was not completely informed of the scope of the abuse Lannert suffered, her fear, or her rage that her sister may also have been victimized by their father. This evidence of battered spouse syndrome might have placed Lannert's actions in proper context, and may have allowed a jury to conclude that Lannert was not the initial aggressor on the night of her father's death, potentially resulting in a very different outcome than what she faces today."

In the same appeal, the judgment ultimately affirmed relief was not granted.

A concurring opinion included the view that the statute did not require the narrow construction given by the Missouri Court of Appeals, and it included the following statement:

Statement by the presiding judge

The presiding judge, the Hon. Steven H. Goldman, made the following statement regarding Stacey’s case:

"[The] sentence is severe for a 20 year old. It is also somewhat surprising considering the evidence of sexual abuse by the victim's father...[a] conventional life sentence would be more appropriate from a comparison standpoint."

Gender-Batson remand

In the Court of Appeals of Missouri (Eastern District, Division Three) decision dated November 8, 1994, the court remanded for a gender-Batson hearing and affirmed on all other issues.

The decision described the remand as requiring the State to give gender-neutral reasons for peremptory strikes of female jurors during voir dire, referencing J.E.B. v. Alabama ex rel. T.B. and applying Batson to gender bias.

Rule 29.15 motion

The November 8, 1994 Missouri appellate decision stated that Defendant appealed the denial of her Rule 29.15 motion without an evidentiary hearing. The motion court was found to have acted based on the record.

The appellate discussion stated that Defendant’s claims included ineffective assistance for failing to interview one of the State’s psychiatrists before trial and for failing to cross examine State’s witness, Edward Swargulski, as to bias and/or prejudice. The appellate court stated both claims failed. It stated that Defendant did not plead facts showing that the outcome would have been different had her attorney interviewed Dr. Rabun prior to trial or had her attorney cross-examined Edward Swargulski.

The appellate court stated it remanded only for a gender-Batson hearing and affirmed with regard to all other issues.

Other detailed facts and litigation context

Prior conduct and preparations described at trial

Evidence described that Lannert discussed financial gains she would inherit after her father’s death and also explored methods of killing him. It also described preparation with others, fraud involving her father’s credit cards and checks, and staging a scene after the killing.

Mental disease or defect evidence

The defense of mental disease or defect was presented at trial with expert testimony, and the State presented rebuttal expert witnesses. Evidence about Lannert’s abuse was admitted in relation to the mental disease or defect defence and rebuttal of elements of the crimes.

Self-defense and battered spouse syndrome discussion

The appellate analysis discussed that Missouri’s battered spouse syndrome statute required self-defense already be an issue before syndrome evidence would be admissible. It also discussed the Missouri self-defense elements, including the requirement that deadly force be used only when there is an absence of aggression or provocation by the defender and other criteria.

In the same discussion, the following quote was attributed to Lannert:

"a man who rapes his daughter when she is in the third grade is the initial aggressor, and the author of his own doom"

The opinion discussed that this assertion was not supported by Missouri law and that the right to self-defense did not include the ability to attack. The opinion also described that battered spouse syndrome does not amount to a defense in itself but provides support for a self-defense claim by showing the frame of mind at the time of the act.

Timeline

• November 8, 1994 — Missouri Court of Appeals remanded for a gender-Batson hearing and affirmed other issues.
• March 11, 2003 — United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed the denial of habeas corpus relief.
• January 10, 2009 — Missouri Governor Matt Blunt commuted Stacey Lannert’s sentence.
• May 14, 2009 — Lannert appeared as a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
• January 16, 2009 — Lannert was released.
• March 16, 2011 — Lannert appeared as a guest on The Joy Behar Show.
• April 20, 2011 — Lannert appeared as a guest on Piers Morgan Tonight.