Opinion ID: 2822793
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Mr. Strong’s Crimes 2

Text: On October 23, 2000, police officers were dispatched to the home of Mr. Strong’s girlfriend, Eva Washington, following a disconnected 911 call. The officers knocked on both the front and back doors, but no one responded. Mr. Strong eventually came to the 2 The recital of Mr. Strong’s crimes is taken from the opinion of the Eighth Circuit without further attribution. Strong III, 737 F.3d at 509-10. 3 back door, where the officers asked about his wife and children. Mr. Strong responded that Ms. Washington and the children were asleep. He then stepped outside and closed the door behind him. When asked again about Ms. Washington and the children, Mr. Strong replied that Ms. Washington was at work and the children were inside the apartment. The officers asked to check on the children, but Mr. Strong informed them that he had locked himself out. Mr. Strong then knocked on the door, calling for someone to open it. The officers noticed that Mr. Strong was sweating profusely, had dark stains on the knees of his jeans, and had blood on his hands. When no one answered, the officers kicked in the door. Mr. Strong ran away. After he was apprehended, Mr. Strong told the officers, “[Y]ou should have shot me, they're both dead, I killed them.” Inside the apartment, the officers found the bodies of Ms. Washington and her two-year-old daughter, Zandrea Thomas. The bodies were located on the floor in the back bedroom, where the police also discovered a butcher knife. Ms. Washington and Mr. Strong's three-month-old child was in the room as well but was unharmed. An autopsy revealed that Ms. Washington had been stabbed twenty-one times and had five slash wounds. Zandrea had been stabbed nine times and had twelve slash wounds. Both Ms. Washington and Zandrea were disemboweled, and Mr. Strong had attempted to decapitate Zandrea. A jury convicted Mr. Strong of two counts of first degree murder. Mr. Strong was sentenced to death for the murders on the recommendation of the jury. The jury found the state had proven two statutory aggravators beyond a reasonable doubt. Strong II, 142 4 S.W.3d at 710 n.3; see section 565.032.1. Pursuant to section 565.032.2, the jury found Mr. Strong had committed each murder while “engaged in the commission or attempted commission of another unlawful homicide” and that the murders were “outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or inhuman in that it involved torture, or depravity of mind[.]” Id. The jury found that these aggravators were not outweighed by mitigating circumstances, and, therefore, justified a sentence of death. See section 565.032.1.