The Edward Post murder case ended with the New Orleans real estate executive pleading guilty in December 1995 to second-degree murder in the 1986 drowning of his wife, Julie Post, in a St. Louis hotel bathtub. He was sentenced to 30 years, served time after two earlier first-degree murder convictions were overturned on appeal, and was released on parole in 2014.1Los Angeles Times. Executive Pleads Guilty in Wife’s Drowning2Forensic Files Now. Ed Post
What Happened at the Omni Hotel
On June 3, 1986, Ed and Julie Post were in St. Louis for a real estate conference and staying at the Omni Hotel at Union Station. That morning, Julie drowned in the bathtub of their room.3Orlando Sentinel. Executive Pleads Guilty in Wife’s Drowning Ed told investigators Julie had slipped, grabbed a wall-mounted towel ring for support, and fallen unconscious when the ring broke free.
Before leaving the hotel that morning, Ed introduced himself by full name to a doorman and volunteered a detailed jogging route past Busch Stadium and the Gateway Arch. Prosecutor Dee Joyce-Hayes later called the forced interaction an attempt to manufacture an alibi.4Forensic Files Now. Julie Post Murder
The Forensic Case Against Ed Post
The initial autopsy in St. Louis could not determine whether the drowning was accidental.5Forensic Files Files. Ed Post Drowning Murder Wife Julie Post Investigators then tested the towel ring. Pulling it from the wall in the manner it was found would have required force equivalent to a 480-pound person hanging on it, or a 120-pound person falling from 64 feet. Neither matched a woman slipping in a bathtub. Investigators concluded someone standing outside the tub had wrenched the ring loose to stage an accident.4Forensic Files Now. Julie Post Murder
Authorities exhumed Julie’s body from Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans for a second autopsy, which revealed marks suggesting her head had been held underwater.4Forensic Files Now. Julie Post Murder
The Financial Motive
Less than a month before Julie’s death, Ed took out a $300,000 life insurance policy on her.4Forensic Files Now. Julie Post Murder Prosecutors described the total coverage on Julie as the bulk of a $700,000 life insurance portfolio, acquired shortly before the killing.1Los Angeles Times. Executive Pleads Guilty in Wife’s Drowning The marriage was also failing. In 1985, Julie told the couple’s daughters she and Ed were separating. Their daughter Stephanie later testified that Ed had physically abused Julie and once pointed a gun at her.
Two Convictions, Two Reversals
Post was tried for first-degree murder in June 1989, convicted, and sentenced to life without parole for fifty years.6Leagle. State v. Post, 901 S.W.2d 231 The conviction collapsed after evidence of juror misconduct emerged. While the jury was sequestered, a deputy sheriff not assigned to the jury pursued sexual contact with an alternate juror at the courthouse and hotel. Separately, a deputy who was assigned to the jury boasted to colleagues that he was having sex with one of the jurors. In March 1991, the Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed a new-trial order, holding that the misconduct created a rebuttable presumption of prejudice the State had failed to overcome.7vLex. State v. Post, 804 S.W.2d 862
At the second trial, Post’s own brother, his daughter, and his best friend testified against him, and he was again convicted of first-degree murder with the same sentence.2Forensic Files Now. Ed Post In 1995, the Missouri Court of Appeals reversed again. The trial court had improperly admitted hearsay testimony from Harby and Dianne Kreeger, who recounted phone calls in which Julie said Ed was beating her. The prosecution offered the calls as “excited utterances,” but the appellate court found no independent evidence that a beating had occurred at the time of the calls, making the testimony self-referential “bootstrapping.” Julie’s own statement during one call that she was “okay” and just wanted the Kreegers to “know about it” showed reflective thought, which the court called “the antithesis of the excited utterance.”8vLex. State v. Post, 901 S.W.2d 231
The 1995 Guilty Plea
Facing a third trial after six and a half years in jail without bond, Post pleaded guilty in December 1995 to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years.1Los Angeles Times. Executive Pleads Guilty in Wife’s Drowning He admitted drowning Julie but attributed his actions to diet pills he had been taking at the time.2Forensic Files Now. Ed Post With credit for time served, he needed roughly three and a half more years before becoming eligible for parole.3Orlando Sentinel. Executive Pleads Guilty in Wife’s Drowning
Parole and Life After Prison
Ed Post was released from the Missouri Eastern Correctional Center in 2014 at age 69.2Forensic Files Now. Ed Post