Missouri executes man convicted of fatally shooting state trooper 20 years ago

A Missouri man who was convicted of fatally shooting a state trooper 20 years ago was executed Tuesday.

Lance Shockley, 48, died by lethal injection shortly after 6 p.m. at the state prison in Bonne Terre.

Shockley, who long maintained his innocence, was convicted of killing Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Carl Dewayne Graham Jr. in March 2005. Prosecutors said he waited for hours near Graham’s home in Van Buren before shooting him first with a rifle, then with a shotgun when the trooper exited his patrol vehicle.

In the death chamber, Shockley’s head was elevated on a pillow. He lifted his head and spoke to loved ones in the witness room to his left. A woman appeared to try to converse with him through the soundproof glass.

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After about 90 seconds, Shockley laid his head back on the pillow and appeared to stop talking.

Shockley’s final visitors Tuesday morning were his two daughters and a friend, according to prison officials. His last meal consisted of three packs of oatmeal, peanut butter, water and two sports drinks.

In a written final statement, Shockley cited a Bible passage from the Book of John: “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”

Shockley’s appeals and requests for a new trial were all denied. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected his final appeals earlier on Tuesday.

On Monday, Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe denied his request for clemency.

“Violence against those who risk their lives every day to protect our communities will never be tolerated. Missouri stands firmly with our men and women in uniform,” Kehoe said in a statement.

Shockley was convicted in March 2009 and sentenced to death two months later. Prosecutors said he killed Sergeant Graham because he was investigating Shockley for involuntary manslaughter after he left the scene of a deadly accident that killed his best friend.

One of Shockley’s attorneys, Jeremy Weis, said prosecutors failed to show direct evidence connecting his client to the killing.

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“The state’s case remained circumstantial,” Weis said last week while discussing the case at the University of Missouri School of Law. “The murder weapons were never found. There were disagreements between the ballistics experts hired by the prosecution.”

Witnesses placed Shockley about 14 miles from Graham’s home when prosecutors said he was waiting near the trooper’s residence.

Prosecutors countered that Shockley had asked where Graham lived before the killing and tried to dispose of a box of .243-caliber ammunition around the time of the crime, according to court documents.

Shockley is the first person executed in Missouri this year, with no other executions scheduled for the remainder of 2025. The state’s last execution was carried out on Dec. 3, 2024, when Christopher Collings was put to death for the sexual assault and killing of a 9-year-old girl.

Shockley was one of two people executed in the U.S. on Tuesday. Samuel Lee Smithers, 72, died by lethal injection in Florida for the killings of two women whose bodies were found in a pond in 1996, extending the Sunshine State’s already record number of executions for the year to 14.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.