By Heartland News & AP
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KFVS/AP) - Gov. Jay Nixon has commuted the sentence for a man scheduled to die by injection Wednesday to life in prison without parole.
The governor's office made the announcement Monday afternoon in the case of Richard Clay. Clay was convicted in the 1994 killing of a southeast Missouri man, but has maintained he was innocent.
"After an exhaustive review, I am convinced of Richard Clay's involvement in the senseless murder of Randy Martindale and find that the evidence clearly supports the jury's verdict of murder in the first degree," Nixon said in a brief statement."Having looked at this matter in its entirety and after significant thought and counsel, I have concluded, however, to exercise my constitutional authority and commute Richard Clay's sentence to life without the possibility of parole. Richard Clay's involvement in this crime is clear, and he must, and will, serve the remainder of his life behind bars for his role in this heinous act."
The governor's statement does not say why he commuted the sentence.
"It's simply amazing," said Clay in a telephone interview with Heartland New Monday evening. "It says a lot for Governor Nixon. I know he took the decision very seriously and gave it a thorough review."
Clay says he and his lawyer, Jennifer Herndon will discuss their next move in a meeting Tuesday.
"At this point in time I will sit down with my attorneys and we will, we will come up with another legal strategy on how we will attempt to get my case back into the courts and continue to investigate a lot of the leads that opened up the past few weeks and then file motions back to the court to see if they will grant me access back in," Clay said.
The family of Randy Martindale issued a statement Monday evening.
"Our family has been waiting a long time for this case to be finalized. We believe Gov. Nixon reviewed it thoroughly and his decision is just. We respect the decision of the Governor and consider the case now closed."
The execution would have been the first in Missouri since 2009 and just the second since 2005 as the courts have considered whether Missouri's three-drug execution method could potentially cause cruel and unusual punishment for the inmate.
Clay was scheduled to die by lethal injection on January 12. His lawyers asked Governor Nixon for a stay in his execution. They say there were problems with the prosecution.
Thursday, the Missouri Supreme Court overruled Clay's request for a stay of his execution.
Clay and his lawyers say he deserves another chance because of witnesses and evidence that they believe prosecutors withheld. They also claim there's no physical evidence linking Clay to the murder.
"These are difficult decisions constitutionally vested with the Governor of our state," said Attorney General Chris Koster. "I am confident that Governor Nixon gave this case careful consideration and I respect his decision."
Related stories
Copyright 2011 KFVS. All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Clay spoke to Heartland News last week about his case.
All content ©Copyright 2000 - 2013 WorldNow and KFVS, a Raycom Media Station. 
