What We Know: A murder case in southwest Missouri took an unexpected turn nearly ten years after a man was sentenced to death.
Darrell Mease was convicted in the 1988 killings of three members of a family in rural Taney County.
What It Means: While awaiting trial, Mease told a Springfield newspaper that God was his lawyer and would decide his future.
Then, in 1999, Pope John Paul the Second visited St. Louis and personally asked Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan to spare Mease’s life.
What’s Next: Carnahan agreed, changing his death sentence to life in prison without parole.
But the decision was painful for the victims’ family, who said they learned about it through news reports instead of state officials.
Mease remains in prison, serving a life sentence.
(Photo provided Ozarks First)