Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Contact: Jessica Robinson, 573-751-0290
Blunt Denies Clemency Request for Marlin Gray
JEFFERSON CITY–Gov. Matt Blunt has denied the clemency request for Marlin Gray who was found guilty and sentenced to death for the murders of sisters Julie Kerry and Robin Kerry in 1991.
Blunt carefully reviewed the case, including the court records, applications for clemency, and the Board of Probation and Parole’s report recommending clemency be denied. Blunt found no reason to set aside the result of previous judicial decisions on this case.
"Missouri’s highest courts and a jury of Marlin Gray’s peers determined unequivocally that he should be held accountable for Julie and Robin Kerry’s deaths. I support the sentence issued and affirmed by both Missouri and U.S. Courts and believe justice has been served," Blunt said. "My thoughts and prayers are with family and friends who mourn the loss of Julie and Robin."
On April 4, 1991 Marlin Gray and three of his friends encountered sisters Julie and Robin Kerry and their cousin Thomas Cummins on the Chain of Rocks Bridge spanning the Mississippi River. After talking and going separate ways, Gray’s group turned around.
Gray put his arm around Cummins and told him to get on the ground and that it was a robbery. After Gray and his group overpowered Cummins and the Kerry sisters, they raped both women, robbed Cummins and forced all three down a manhole where the sisters were pushed off the bridge and Cummins was told to jump, which he did. The group purchased gas, cigarettes and sandwiches with the money from the robbery. They then went to an observation point near the river and speculated the three would not make it to shore. Later Gray commended one of his accomplices for pushing the Kerrys off the bridge. Julie Kerry’s body was found three weeks later in the river. Robin Kerry’s body was never recovered. Cummins survived and testified at Gray’s trial.
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