Gay Prisoner: Homophobia Led to Death Row

Feb. 6 -- To his supporters, Stanley Lingar is a victim of homophobia, sitting on death row because prosecutors used his sexual orientation to convince jurors to sentence him to death.

To Missouri prosecutors, he is a convicted murderer who will finally be punished for the 1985 slaying of an honors student.

Lingar faces execution just after midnight tonight. With the U.S. Supreme Court having rejected his appeal today, his last chance at life lies with Missouri Gov. Bob Holden, as his lawyers hold out hope the new governor will intervene and grant him clemency.

In 1986, Lingar was convicted of abducting and killing 16-year-old Thomas Scott Allen. According to court records, Allen's car ran out of gas while he was driving outside the southeast Missouri town of Doniphan, and Lingar and his associate (and one-time co-defendant) David Lee Smith decided to give him a lift.

Smith and Lingar drove Allen to a remote area, where they told him to undress and start masturbating. When he refused, prosecutors said, Lingar beat him with a tire iron, shot him three times, and ran over him with his car.

Smith pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced 10 years in prison in exchange for his testimony against Lingar.

At trial, Smith testified that Lingar planned the killing and was the triggerman. In arguing for the death penalty, prosecutors introduced alleged evidence of Lingar's "bad character" by having Smith testify he and Lingar had a consensual homosexual relationship for three years.

Homosexuality in ‘John Ashcroft Country’

Lingar's attorneys believe the testimony about his sexual orientation — especially in rural Missouri in 1986 — unfairly prejudiced the jurors, convincing them to sentence him to death.

"In the penalty phase, David Smith — who had already testified against Stanley in the guilt phase — was asked just one question," said Lingar's attorney, Kent Gipson. "When he testified that he and Stanley had engaged in a homosexual relationship, especially in rural Missouri in John Ashcroft country, they [jurors] decided, 'Let's kill him.' His sexual orientation offended the jury … they decided that they should kill him because he was a deviant."