Mo. Supreme Court sets Jan. 29 execution date

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Supreme Court on Monday set a January execution date for an inmate convicted in the 1991 robbery and slaying of a St. Louis-area jeweler.

Herbert Smulls, 55, is scheduled to die Jan. 29 for the fatal shooting of Chesterfield, Mo., jeweler Stephen Honickman while Smulls and an accomplice were robbing the store owned by Honickman and his wife, Florence Honickman.

Smulls' attorney, Charles Rogers, said Monday's announcement wasn't expected.

"We were utterly taken by surprise when we learned about it this morning," Rogers said.

Missouri once was among the most active death penalty states in the U.S., but there have been few death sentences carried out in recent years and legal wrangling over execution procedures. The state's Nov. 20 execution of Joseph Paul Franklin was Missouri's first in nearly three years.

Last month's execution was Missouri's first using the single drug pentobarbital. The Department of Corrections obtains the drug through a compounding pharmacy, and few details have been made public about the compounding pharmacy making it because it is part of the execution team. State law provides for privacy for all associated with executions.

Smulls is one of several death row inmates who are challenging Missouri's execution method.

According to prosecutors, Smulls and a 15-year-old accomplice, Norman Brown, visited the Honickmans' store July 22, 1991. They looked at several diamonds and left without buying anything. They returned July 27 and were told to return later. Customers generally made appointments to visit the store and look at jewelry, according to court documents.

The duo returned to the store that evening and examined some diamonds. They went to a hallway supposedly to discuss the prices and came back pointing a gun at Florence Honickman, court documents said. She hid behind a door and was shot in her arm and side, and prosecutors say Smulls fired several shots at Stephen Honickman, who was hit three times.

They left the store after taking jewelry worn by Florence Honickman and other items. During a traffic stop after the robbery, a police officer heard their descriptions over his radio. Police found jewelry in the car and the following morning found a pistol on the shoulder of the road, according to court documents.

The jury at his first trial convicted Smulls of first-degree robbery but could not reach a verdict on other counts. He was convicted at a subsequent trial of first-degree murder, first-degree assault, first-degree robbery and two counts of armed criminal action. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Brown was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Smulls didn't testify at his second trial. The newspaper reported that in his first, he said he went to F&M Crown Jewels to sell Stephen Honickman jewelry. Smulls said he sold jewelry he received from his neighborhood and had sold watches and jewelry for $4,000 earlier that day and went back that night to get his "commission." Florence Honickman testified they bought jewelry only from a factory in Israel and had dealt with Smulls solely for a ring he planned to buy for his fiancee, according to the Post-Dispatch.