No. 22-2860 ___________________________ The Estate of Donald Nash, Theresa Nash as personal representative; Theresa Nash

Plaintiffs - Appellees

v.

Henry James Folsom; Scott Mertens; Ruth Montgomery; Dorothy Taylor

Defendants - Appellants ____________

Appeal from United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri - St. Louis ____________

Submitted: September 21, 2023 Filed: February 9, 2024 ____________ Before SMITH, Chief Judge, MELLOY and ERICKSON, Circuit Judges. ____________ SMITH, Chief Judge.

Several Missouri public officials filed this interlocutory appeal from a district court judgment denying qualified immunity on five claims flowing from a murder prosecution. For the reasons explained below, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and dismiss in part for want of jurisdiction. I. Background In March 1982, the partially nude body of Judy Spencer was found at an abandoned schoolhouse outside of Salem, Missouri. The killer strangled Spencer with a shoelace taken from her shoe and then shot her with a shotgun. Forensic testing showed that she had a blood alcohol content of 0.18 percent. Fresh tire tracks were found at the scene. The tracks were too wide to belong to vehicles owned by Spencer or her live-in boyfriend—Donald Nash. Police later discovered Spencer’s vehicle in a ditch, miles away from the schoolhouse. Fingerprints found on the front- side windows of the vehicle identified two men: one was a violent sex offender, and the other lived next to the ditch.

The night before Spencer’s body was discovered, she and Nash argued about her drinking and driving. The confrontation occurred outside the apartment of Spencer’s friend, Janet Jones. After the argument, Nash left Spencer at Jones’s apartment and returned to their home. Spencer eventually returned home, changed clothes, and then drove back to Jones’s apartment. At some point that evening, Spencer washed her hair in Jones’s kitchen sink. The parties agree Spencer washed her hair there but dispute when the washing occurred. Nash asserts Spencer washed her hair before she went home to change clothes. Defendants argue Spencer washed her hair after she changed her clothes and returned to Jones’s apartment.

Spencer continued drinking after returning to Jones’s apartment, and she later drove by herself to bars in nearby Houston, Missouri. Nash telephoned Jones multiple times, worried that Spencer’s drinking and driving would lead to an accident or arrest. Nash and Jones split up and spent the night looking for Spencer, but neither found her.

No direct evidence connected Nash to Spencer’s murder, the crime scene, or the ditch where police found Spencer’s vehicle. A gunshot residue test conducted on Nash soon after the discovery of Spencer’s body did not find residue. Also, Nash did not own a shotgun at the time of Spencer’s death. Investigators further observed that Nash had no scratches, scrapes, marks, or bruises on his face or hands that would -2- suggest his involvement in a violent struggle. Unfortunately, the case went cold for over 25 years.

In 2007, Spencer’s sister contacted the Missouri State Highway Patrol requesting that they reopen the investigation. Thereafter, defendants Henry James Folsom, Scott Mertens, and Dorthy Taylor (officers) reopened the investigation. Folsom pulled the highway patrol’s case file, which included the findings of the initial 1982 investigation. In November 2007, the officers submitte