Kimber Edwards – media sources here, here, and here.

Clemency
A few days before Kimber Edwards’ scheduled execution, Governor Jay Nixon commuted his death sentence to a life sentence without parole. Mr. Edwards was convicted of killing his ex-wife, Kimberly Cantrell. Gov. Nixon did not provide a reason for his decision, but Mr. Edwards’ attorneys had raised doubts about his guilt. Mr. Edwards was convicted in a murder-for-hire scheme in which another man, Orthell Wilson, claimed he was paid by Edwards to kill Ms. Cantrell. Several months before Mr. Edwards’ scheduled execution, Mr. Wilson recanted in an interview with a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter (and later in a signed affidavit), saying that he lied about being hired by Mr. Edwards and that he was solely responsible, an admission he claimed to have told Mr. Edwards’ attorneys years ago.