An effort to abolish the death penalty in Missouri is gaining traction for the first time in many years.
A House committee heard testimony Monday on a bill that would eliminate capital punishment as a sentencing option for the most serious felonies, including murder.
If the legislation becomes law, life imprisonment without parole would be the state's most serious sentence.
"Putting them in jail for the rest of their lives without the possibility of parole is not letting them off easy," said Rep. John Murphy, the bill's sponsor, whose attempts to abolish the death penalty have not received hearings in years past.
"But it is better for the state, and it's more just – and certainly ethically, in my view, a better thing to do," said Murphy, R-St. Louis County.
The death penalty is costlier to taxpayers than life in prison because many defendants appeal their sentences, said Murphy, who added that the appeals process can force victims' families to relive their trauma.
Murphy also pointed to the number of people sentenced to death who have been exonerated – at least 202 nationally since 1973, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
"The state, frankly, makes mistakes," Murphy said. "And if the mistake is made when it comes to the death penalty, there's no correcting it."
The legislation would not apply to people who are currently on death row, but Gov. Mike Kehoe would have the option to commute their sentences, Murphy said.
The bill has opponents.
Rep. Jim Kalberloh, R-Lowry City, said families of the victims can choose whether or not to pursue the death penalty.
"If they do want to, I don't know that I want to take that choice away, because maybe to them that would be closure," Kalberloh said.
Rep. Barry Hovis, R-Cape Girardeau, supported capital punishment during the hearing.
"To me as a victim, it makes no difference if they're mentally ill or mean, or evil or whatever," Hovis said. "If they kill me or kill my daughter, or kill my wife or kill my neighbor, I have no regard for the people that do that."
Abolishing the death penalty was last discussed by the full House in 2016 as an ultimately withdrawn amendment to a bill, said Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, R-Arnold, who spoke in favor of Murphy's bill at a press conference Monday.
"If we are a pro-life state – and I believe that we are – we need to be protecting even those who deserve it the least," Coleman said.
St. Louis Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski, who testified in favor of the legislation, said people should be given the chance to repent.
"Catholic teaching does not deny the seriousness of the violent crimes or the suffering of victims," Rozanski said. "Those who commit grave crimes may justly be imprisoned for life, if necessary, but modern prison systems allow us to protect society without taking the life of another."
Rozanski added that Missouri has one of the highest rates of capital punishment of the 27 states that still issue the sentence.
Several advocacy organizations joined Rozanski in voicing support for the bill.
Heidi Moore once worked for the Potosi Correctional Center, where people sentenced to death in the state are primarily held before their execution.
"The prison is very quiet on the day of an execution," Moore said, adding that it takes a toll on correctional employees. "You know someone is going to be murdered, and people just kind of talk and act around it, and then the staff are expected to go on."
HB 2153 still faces hurdles. Murphy said the committee chair has promised him a vote on the bill, but whether it will pass through the committee and reach the House floor is unclear.
The outcome for another bill could signal support for the legislation: The House overwhelmingly voted last week to bar judges from imposing the death penalty when there is a hung jury, sending the measure to the Senate.
Copyright 2026 St. Louis Public Radio
