Samuel Lee Scott was 54 years old when he struck his wife, Marcia Johnson, also 54, on the right side of her face. It was January 6, 2019, in St. Louis, Missouri. He then told her something that court documents recorded almost verbatim: that he might as well finish what he had started, since she was thinking of calling the police.
The police did arrive, and Scott was wanted for fourth-degree assault. Four days after his arrest, he was served with a protection order. He could not come within 300 feet of Marcia or enter her home. That same day, the nonprofit St. Louis Bail Project paid his $5,000 bail, and Scott was released from jail.
He returned to the house he was prohibited from approaching. He finished what he had started. In April 2022, nearly three years after the first blow, a court sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The organization that paid his bail never accepted responsibility and continues to operate in St. Louis.
