Supply: GBI / GBI
After virtually 40 years, a Georgia man was charged with murdering a pair at a Black church in 1985.
In keeping with WJBF, Erik Sparre, 61, was arrested and charged with felony homicide and aggravated assault for the homicide of Harold and Thelma Swain almost 4 many years after committing the crime.
Sparre was arrested in Waynesville, about 90 miles southwest of Savannah, Georgia. In keeping with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Erik Sparre had beforehand denied murdering the Swains.
A brand new investigation into the Swains’ deaths started after the unique suspect, Dennis Perry, was exonerated on DNA proof.
In 2003, Perry was sentenced to life in jail after a jury convicted him of murdering the Swains. Perry spent 20 years in jail for against the law he didn’t commit earlier than he was ordered a retrial in 2020.
In keeping with WJBF, attorneys for the Georgia Innocence Challenge examined DNA from hair from hairs discovered within the hinge of a pair of eyeglasses left subsequent to the victims’ our bodies, which matched Sparre, who was an early suspect.
An investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Consitution discovered that Sparre’s authentic alibi that he was working at a grocery retailer throughout the time of the killings was false.
The publication additionally reported that Sparre’s ex-wife, Emily Head, informed police Sparre confessed to the homicide in a cellphone message that was allegedly recorded and famous that jurors in Perry’s conviction have been by no means informed a key witness was paid $12,000 earlier than testifying.
Since Dennis Perry was launched from jail, he’s spent all his time reconnecting with family and friends. He says he by no means gave up hope when he was behind bars. “It took a very long time, however I by no means gave up,” Perry informed the Georgia Innocence Challenge in 2021. “This indictment has been hanging over my head for over 20 years, and it’s such a reduction to lastly not have to fret about being accused of this terrible factor.”
Though he’s free, he nonetheless has a protracted highway forward.
“Georgia is one in every of 14 states that doesn’t presently have a statutory compensation regulation to supply monetary reduction for years misplaced to wrongful conviction,” Georgia Innocence Challenge wrote. “With out one, exonerees like Dennis are left on their very own, with nearly no assist from the State, to rebuild their lives.”
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