Jury convicts man of woman's death

CLAREMORE, Okla. (AP) -- A Rogers County jury returns today to consider a punishment recommendation for a man it convicted of killing a Catoosa mother nearly seven years ago. The panel found Karl Lee

Tuesday, February 15th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

CLAREMORE, Okla. (AP) -- A Rogers County jury returns today to consider a punishment recommendation for a man it convicted of killing a Catoosa mother nearly seven years ago. The panel found Karl Lee Myers guilty Monday of first-degree murder while in the commission of a felony or rape.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Myers. He was convicted in the April 13, 1993, slaying of Shawn Marie Williams, 22, whose body was found in a secluded recreational area on the McClellan-Kerr Navigational Channel.

Williams, who was raped, had been missing for three days. Expert witnesses testified that Myers' blood DNA matched the sperm fraction taken from Williams' body. Testimony showed that the likelihood that it was anyone else's DNA was one in 4 billion. During closing arguments, District Attorney Gene Haynes said evidence showed that Myers "had the opportunity" to commit the crime based on the time he left work.

Haynes also noted the proximity of Myers' home to where Williams' body was found. But defense attorney David Autry said the state's theory "is nothing but naked and unadorned speculation. "There's not one shred of truth to place Myers here at the critical time."

Defense witnesses also refuted a claim by Myers' former cellmate that Myers had told him about raping and killing a woman and dumping her body near the river. Myers was convicted in March 1998 in the asphyxiation death of Cindy Michelle Marzano of Broken Arrow. He was sentenced to death for Marzano's March 14, 1996, slaying. Her body also was found along the channel, which was a few miles from Myers' rural home.