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Capital Punishment in Missouri from Missouri.Net (Gary Lee Roll)

After ingesting alcohol, marijuana, and four to six hits of LSD, Gary Lee Roll, David Rhodes, and John Browne decided to rob a drug dealer. Roll supplied each of them with a gun and a knife and drove the three to the home of an alleged drug dealer. When Roll attempted to force open the front door, a child inside cried out. Rhodes and Browne refused to go inside, so they all returned to Roll’s residence.

Later that night, they decided to rob a different drug dealer, Randy Scheper. At about 4:00 a.m., Roll drove to Scheper’s house with Rhodes and Browne. Roll knocked on the door and Scheper’s mother, Sherry, answered. Displaying a badge, Roll identified himself as a police officer and ordered her to open the door. When she did, Roll and Rhodes entered. Browne, who knew the family, remained outside, fearing he would be recognized. Inside the house, Roll fatally shot Randy in the head and beat Sherry to death with his gun. Toll (either alone or in concert with Rhodes) fatally stabbed Randy’s brother Curtis. Roll, Rhodes, and Browne then left with some marijuana and $215 in cash. Returning home, Roll cleaned blood and hair from his gun and blood off his knife and clothing. He wrapped the murder weapons and a box of ammunition in a package, which his son buried in the woods behind Roll’s house.

In the weeks after the murders, Browne began to fear for his safety. To protect himself, Brown wore a tape recorder during a conversation with Roll about the murders. On the tape, Roll admitted committing the murders and getting rid of the murder weapons. Roll also said that he killed Schepers because "they knew everybody...and I figured then they know me, because of something that was said in there..." Browne gave the tape to a friend for safekeeping, who in turn gave it to the police.

Missouri Attorney General Press Release

July 18, 2000 - State Supreme Court Sets Aug. 30 Execution Date.

Jefferson City, Mo. -- The Missouri Supreme Court today set an Aug. 30 execution date for Gary Lee Roll, sentenced to die for the 1992 murders of three members of the Scheper family in Cape Girardeau.

Roll (DOB - 11/22/52) forced his way into the Scheper house, along with accomplice David Rhodes, during the predawn hours of Aug. 9, 1992 in order to rob Randy Scheper. Roll fatally shot Randy, 17 years old, in the head before beating to death Sherry Scheper, 47 years old, with his gun. Then Roll, either alone or with Rhodes' help, fatally stabbed Randy's 22-year-old brother, Curtis.

Roll pled guilty to three counts of first degree murder, three counts of armed criminal action and one count of robbery in connection with the crimes. The Boone County Circuit Court, which was hearing the case on a change of venue, sentenced him to death.

Rhodes, who also pleaded guilty, received three consecutive life sentences for second degree murder; a third accomplice, John Browne, pleaded guilty to one count of second degree murder and received a life sentence.

ProDeathPenalty.Com

The Missouri Supreme Court set an execution date of Aug. 30 for Gary Lee Roll, convicted of killing three members of a Cape Girardeau family in 1992. Gary Lee Roll, David Rhodes, and John Browne went to the Scheper family home at about 4:00 am on Aug. 9, 1992, with the intent to commit robbery. Roll knocked on the door and Sherry Scheper, 47, answered. Displaying a badge, Roll identified himself as a police officer and ordered her to open the door. When she did, Roll and Rhodes entered. Browne, who knew the family, remained outside, fearing he would be recognized. Inside the house, Roll ordered Randy and Sherry Scheper to lie face-down on the carpet. Fearing the family could identify him, Roll fatally shot Randy, 17, in the head and beat Sherry to death with his gun. Roll or one of the accomplices fatally stabbed Randy’s 22-year-old brother Curtis with a hunting knife. Roll, Rhodes, and Browne then left with 12 plastic sandwich-sized bags full of marijuana and $214 in cash. Returning home, Roll cleaned blood and hair from his gun and blood off his knife and clothing. He wrapped the murder weapons and a box of ammunition in a package, which his son buried in the woods behind Roll’s house. The murder went unsolved for several weeks, however, Browne began to fear for his safety. To protect himself, Brown wore a tape recorder during a conversation with Roll about the murders. On the tape, Roll admitted committing the murders and getting rid of the murder weapons. Roll also said that he killed the Schepers because "they knew everybody...and I figured then they know me, because of something that was said in there..." Browne gave the tape to a friend for safekeeping, who in turn gave it to the police.

Roll pled guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and other charges. Roll and the teens were arrested in November 1992. Roll later pleaded guilty to all 3 murders. Roll said he hoped the victims' family could forgive him because he didn't believe they could find peace until they did. "If I thought there was something I could say, I would say anything. But I don't think there is," he said.

ABOLISH Archives

(March 25, 1997) - The Missouri Supreme Court issues opinions today affirming the convictions and death sentences of Gary Lee Roll and Daniel Basile.

Gary Roll was convicited in the murder of three people during the robbery of a drug dealer. He pleaded open to three counts of first-degree murder without a plea offer. Evidence showed that his attorney, his former college fraternity brother and friend, had advised him to plead guilty and promised him that he would not get the death penalty. Further, his friend(?) took everything Gary owned as a retainer, including real estate and personal properly, and failed to conduct an investigation of penalty phase issues, such as mental illness and drug abuse.

Gary was a veteran with no previous criminal record. His alleged accomplices were teenagers with a history of criminal conduct. Despite this fact, the court found that Gary was the leader by virtue of his being older than the others. Evidence also existed which was not presented during the sentencing hearing that Gary had a broken leg, was unable to maneuver well enough to commit the charged crimes and had, in fact, stayed in the vehicle while the murders were being committed in the house.

The Court's affirmance of this case is a complete miscarriage of justice. If anyone would like further information about this case, please E-mail me. I am looking for ways to get Gary's story out so that publicity can be generated for this case.

Application for Clemency to Missouri Governor Carnahan

On November 16, 1993, Gary Lee Roll was sentenced to death on each of three counts of murder in the first degree. He is scheduled for execution at 12:01 a.m. on August 30, 2000.

I was appointed by Judge Sachs to represent Mr. Roll on a federal habeas corpus petition challenging those sentences on December 5, 1997. Based on my work on that case and conversations with Mr. Roll, I would respectfully suggest four areas that appear to be particularly appropriate for consideration in connection with this Application. Those are: (1) Mr. Roll was under the influence of voluntarily ingested alcohol and drugs at the time of the crimes, (2) his experimentation with, and eventual addiction to, those drugs resulted, at least part, from sustaining sufficiently severe nerve damage while having teeth removed in the Armed Forces that he became entitled to a 50% service connected disability, followed by at least two subsequent Veteran’s Administration Hospital surgeries that only exacerbated the problem, (3) the private counsel who represented Mr. Roll at trial, during the guilty pleas and at sentencing did not act in Mr. Roll’s best interest and exercised what could most charitably be called poor judgment, and (4) Mr. Roll is an honorably discharged veteran with no violent or criminal history prior to these crimes.

The sentencing court indicated a belief that it could not consider the first factor in mitigation, and did not specifically address the second factor apart from its comments regarding the first. While the sentencing court did address some aspects of the third factor in connection with an argument that counsel rendered ineffective assistance under a constitutional standard, it did not address concerns, expressed below, that counsel simply used poor judgment and implemented ill-conceived strategies. The fourth factor was considered as mitigating by the sentencing court.

The fact of Mr. Roll’s voluntary intoxication at the time of the crimes is not questioned. The Missouri Supreme Court’s conclusion that he had ingested “alcohol, marijuana and four to six hits of LSD” is a fair reading of the transcript. Although such voluntary intoxication is not a legal defense under Missouri law, it is an appropriate consideration in mitigation. Such consideration is particularly appropriate in Mr. Roll’s case when viewed in the context of how he was drawn to illegal drugs.

Mr. Roll’s medical history is described in some detail in Roll v. United States, 548 F.Supp. 97 (E.D.Mo. 1982) (attached hereto as Exhibit A), which involved a Federal Tort Claims Act claim by Mr. Roll and his wife arising from a failure to provide informed consent prior to a surgery performed at a Veteran’s Administration Hospital. That decision is important both because it documents the nature of the problem, and that it was a real problem that Mr. Roll had been attempting to address for 15 years prior to these crimes, and not just something he dreamed up as a defense or factor in mitigation of these crimes. The following narrative is a summary of Judge Nangle’s Findings of Fact therein.

Several of Mr. Roll’s teeth were pulled while he was in the Armed Forces in 1974. The procedure resulted in damage to the nerves of his jaw, “which has caused him a great deal of pain subsequently.” He was therefore honorably discharged on September 7, 1974 and awarded a 50% service connected disability. By December of 1976, the pain “had reached such intensity that he was unable to maintain a normal social life.” As of that time, the pain, burning and numbing sensation was limited to his lower lip. On June 24 1977, he underwent a right mental neurectomy, which is a surgical procedure to remove a portion of the nerve that supplies feeling to the entire face. 548 F.Supp. at 98-99.

By August of 1977, Mr. Roll was taking decadron, delmane and demorol to alleviate pain radiating up and around his ear. Neurological examination “indicated that the new pain might be associated with the earlier neurectomy.” Over the next two weeks he experienced increasing right and left jaw pain, despite his doctor’s attempt to provide relief through various drugs, pain medication and steroid injections. Mr. Roll therefore underwent a bilateral mental neurectomy, in the hopes numbing his lower lip. Unfortunately, the surgery did not have the desired effect, and by the time of trial Mr. Roll was experiencing “chronic pain in his chin, lip, high neck, jaw, gums and anterior part of his lower jaw.” The severity of the pain had a substantial impact on the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Roll, preventing him from performing work that he might otherwise perform and limiting their social life. 548 F.Supp. at 99-100.

Over the next 10 years the VA Hospital amassed hundreds of pages of records reflecting the prescription and administration of various combinations of narcotic analgesics and anti-anxiety agents, none of which were really effective. Mr. Roll became concerned about addiction to these drugs and, through an in-patient hospital stay, was able to get off of them in early 1992. Then, in March of 1992, Mr. Roll was working on the roof of his house and fell, breaking and splitting through the joint in his ankle where the long bones come together. The prognosis for total healing was not good at the time, and the injury has in fact never healed. Mr. Roll’s cane was recently taken from him and, as of yesterday, August 21, 2000, his ankle was swollen to approximately three times normal size.

Immediately following the leg injury, Mr. Roll was placed back on narcotic pain medications, and began a downward spiral. The pain and resulting depression that had been haunting him for the last seventeen years, coupled with the new pain from the leg injury, became unbearable. He began using marijuana and LSD, and found that those drugs did provide some level of relief.

Thus, Mr. Roll came to the night of November 9, 1992, under the influence of alcohol, marijuana and four to six hits of LSD. As noted above, this voluntary intoxication does not relieve him of legal responsibility. He was, however, undoubtedly suffering from substantially impaired judgment, and that factor, along with an understanding of how he came to be in that position, certainly merit consideration of a lessening of moral responsibility, warranting commutation of his sentences. This conclusion is reinforced by his lack of criminal or violent record, indicating that he is not a career criminal or a criminal on a track of increasingly serious offenses. He is a man who exercised extremely poor judgment under extreme circumstances, culminating from years of pain, on a single night. He thereby put himself in a position to commit the crimes to which he ultimately pled guilty.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this case is the treatment Mr. Roll received from his privately retained lawyer.(1) The Federal District Court was “not comfortable with concluding that trial counsel had satisfied his constitutional responsibilities” to Mr. Roll with respect to the presentation evidence regarding Mr. Roll’s mental condition at sentencing, but concluded that there was no prejudice because the sentencing judge ultimately heard such testimony at the post-conviction hearing and was “distinctly unimpressed.” It is worthy of note, however, that by the time the sentencing judge heard the testimony he had already stated that he did not believe the law allowed him to consider the commission of one crime (i.e. taking illegal drugs) in mitigation of another, and had already imposed, and committed himself to, death sentences. More importantly, the standard for constitutional ineffective assistance of counsel is much higher than simple bad lawyering.

The record is replete with examples. The general tenor of Counsel’s representation, and his desire to cover and pad his own backside rather than honor his explicit ethical obligation to zealously represent his client, are reflected in a “Statement of Defendant on Eve of Trial” (attached hereto as Exhibit B) that he required Mr. Roll to sign. A few of the more onerous paragraphs recite that Mr. Roll was totally sane (in direct conflict with potential defenses or mitigation evidence), that Mr. Roll was entirely satisfied with Counsel’s performance but wanted him to withdraw at the conclusion of the case and seek to have a Public Defender appointed, that he irrevocably assigned all of his assets to Counsel, and, most egregiously, that he permitted his attorney to make the entire statement public, thereby waiving the attorney client privilege.

Counsel did not seek any form of mental evaluation, with respect to defenses or mitigation, but put in writing to Mr. Roll’s brother that he was likely a “zombie” or “time bomb” at the time of the crimes. Counsel testified that he had consulted with Dr. Agnew, one of Mr. Roll’s treating physicians at the VA, regarding legal sanity issues prior to trial, but Dr. Agnew testified at the post-conviction hearing that no such conversations ever occurred.

Despite reportedly coming to town ready for trial on August 29, and being surprised by his client’s decision to plead guilty, Counsel clearly was not ready for trial. When an attempt to enter a guilty plea on the morning of August 30 failed, Counsel did not ask questions on voir dire, did not make an opening statement, and did not cross examine the State’s first witness.(3)

Over the course of my representation of Mr. Roll, I have probably discussed his case with fifteen or twenty criminal law practitioners. Every single one of them has looked on in disbelief when told that counsel advised or allowed his client to waive a jury as to both trial and sentencing, and plead straight up to three counts of first degree murder, knowing that the prosecution is continuing to seek the death penalty. While the client clearly has the right to make the decision and enter into a guilty plea, there is no reason to waive the jury as to sentencing. If even one member of the twelve-person jury refuses to recommend the death penalty, the court cannot impose it. In a jury-sentenced case, a defendant has twelve chances to avoid the death penalty. In a judge-sentence case, a defendant has one chance to avoid the death penalty.

The only relief Mr. Roll seeks is to have his sentences commuted to life in prison, with the possibility of probation or parole. In consideration of the foregoing, the undersigned respectfully submits that such relief is mete and proper.

Respectfully Submitted,
WITHERS, BRANT, IGOE & MULLENNIX, P.C.
Michael S. Shipley #33249
Two South Main Street
Liberty, MO 64068
(816) 781-4788 Telephone
(816) 792-2807 Facsimile ATTORNEY FOR GARY LEE ROLL

Missouri Clemency Applications (Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty)

Gary Roll (Executed 8/30/00)

Gary Roll never denied his part in the killings in 1992 of Randy Scheper, an alleged drug dealer, his mother, Sherry, and brother, Curtis. His trial counsel conducted no pretrial investigation and urged his client to waive his right to be tried before a jury and plead guilty, with false assurances he would receive a life sentence. It was clear his attorney was not ready for trial when he did not ask questions on voir dire, did not make an opening statement, and did not cross examine the state’s first witness.

Counsel did not seek any form of mental evaluation and failed to present evidence to the judge that showed that Roll’s drug addiction stemmed from a botched oral surgery by military doctors in 1974. Roll was subsequently honorably discharged with a 50 percent service disability. Two other surgeries in VA hospitals failed to alleviate the excruciating pain. For 17 years Roll was prescribed various narcotic analgesics in hopes of finding relief. In 1992 Roll sustained a serious leg injury which added to the pain. It was then that Roll turned to "street" drugs to find relief. It was while under the influence of alcohol, marijuana and LSD that Roll, who had no prior history of crime, committed the killings.

Innercity News Online

Gary Lee Roll (MO) - August 30, 2000...1:01am (EST)

Gary Roll has suffered from drug addiction since he underwent dental surgery in the military more than thirty years ago. The procedure was botched, and it left Gary in chronic, excruciating pain. After unsuccessfully seeking relief from the Veterans Administration for years, Gary turned to illegal drugs to escape the pain. Unfortunately, the drugs that dulled Gary's pain, also landed him on death row. Though he maintains he was high and does not remember what happened on the night of August 9, 1992, Gary was convicted of murdering drug dealer Randy Scheper, Sherry Scheper, and Curtis Scheper. The judge sentenced Gary to death, citing his belief that the murder was committed in the commission of another felony. He did not consider Gary's drug addiction or his depression as mitigating factors during sentencing. The fact that Gary had never before been convicted of any crime was the lone mitigating factor the judge weighed against the aggravators.

Mike Shipley, Gary's appellate attorney, intends to continue to appeal the judge's refusal to consider his client's altered mental state at the time of the crime. Gary's drug and depression problems are long-standing and have profoundly influenced his mental capacity. A neuro-psychologist, who testified at a hearing on direct-appeal, confirmed Gary's altered mental state, and also pointed out organic brain damage that may have affected his decision-making ability. Gary's trial counsel did not object to the omission of this evidence, making it much harder to raise subsequently.

Please contact Governor Carnahan and urge him to commute Gary's sentence, or at least to grant him a stay while the mitigating factors in his case are given proper consideration.

ABCNews.Com

Missouri carried out the first execution today at 12:07 a.m. CT when Gary Lee Roll was put to death by lethal injection. Roll, 47, was executed for killing three members of a Cape Girardeau family during a robbery at their home in 1992. He became the third Missouri inmate put to death this year and the 44th since the death penalty was reinstated in 1989.

Atypical Death Row Resident
Roll didn’t fit the profile of a condemned killer. Unlike many on death row, he didn’t grow up facing physical, emotional, mental or sexual abuse. He was from a respected, hard working Cape Girardeau family. His brother became a top FBI agent in Kansas City. Death penalty opponents often point out that many on death row are borderline mentally retarded. Roll had an IQ of 125, well above average. And he wasn’t a drifter — he was a Vietnam veteran who dropped out of college 10 hours short of graduation to help run the family heating and air conditioning business. As he awaited death, Roll accepted his fate and apologized to his family and the relatives of his three victims, Sherry Scheper and her sons Randy and Curtis. “I failed my family,” Roll said in his final statement. He also expressed his remorse to the Scheper family.

Drug Path to Death Row
In an interview the day before his execution, Roll said it was a single, painful event in 1973 that turned his life down the wrong path. Roll had dropped out of Southeast Missouri State University to volunteer for the Army at the height of the Vietnam War. Stationed in Germany, Roll suffered from six impacted teeth. An Army oral surgeon extracted all six at once, in the process exposing a nerve in Roll’s lower mouth. The excruciating pain never went away, Roll said. “It hurts to talk about it,” Roll said. “It affected my life so much. It changed me.” Roll first sought help through conventional means, even suing the Veteran’s Administration when officials there wouldn’t provide the medication he felt he needed. Eventually, Roll said he would do anything to relieve the pain, including experimenting with illegal drugs. In 1991, his drug use was a factor in his wife’s decision to divorce him. Through two teenage friends of his son, Roll began to use LSD. Roll said his need to relieve his pain through LSD eventually led him to murder during his fateful robbery-gone-bad at the Scheper household.

Truman State University - The Monitor

The state of Missouri executed Gary Lee Roll by lethal injection in Potosi at 12:07 a.m. Wednesday. It was Missouri’s third execution this year. In 1992, Roll and two accomplices under the influences of alcohol, marijuana and LSD broke into the Cape Girardeau home of Sherry Scheper and her two sons, ages 17 and 22, in order to steal money and drugs. In the process, he beat Sherry Scheper to death with his gun and shot the younger son while one of his accomplices stabbed the other son to death. Roll got away with over $200 and some marijuana. Despite having his son bury the murder weapons, he was arrested after one of his accomplices recorded a conversation with Roll for the police. Roll eventually pleaded guilty to all three murders and hoped the victims’ family would forgive him.

Roll graduated from Cape Girardeau Central High School in 1969 along with Rush Limbaugh. He then attended Southeast Missouri State University until joining the Army just before graduation. Roll was introduced to continuous pain in his gums after a dental surgery in the military. He became hooked on LSD to numb the pain when the government refused him medication. Last Tuesday Truman’s Amnesty International group held a vigil for Roll’s victims, Sherry, Randy and Curtis Scheper, and also for Roll. Twelve students walked from campus to the county courthouse steps where they had a moment of silence for the victims.

Amnesty held the vigil to express their dissatisfaction with the current system. “Even supporters of the death penalty, like Illinois governor George Ryan, realize there are serious biases against the poor and minorities,” Jesse Jokerst, who attended the vigil, said. “If the death penalty cannot be abolished, at least an immediate moratorium should be in place to reevaluate its role in our judicial system.” Amnesty International plans to hold a second vigil next Tuesday night when another Missouri man is to be executed.