Daily Archives: September 3, 2014

The power of DNA evidence was on display this week in courtrooms on opposite sides of the country, where the fates of three defendants tied to grisly crimes committed decades ago took remarkable turns.

A Los Angeles County jury on Tuesday found a 74-year-old, wheelchair-bound drifter and suspected serial killer guilty of strangling three women to death in the 1980s after DNA evidence led to a break in the cold-case murders.

Reports Reuters:

A Los Angeles County Superior Court jury deliberated just two hours before finding Samuel Little, 74, guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of all three women, who prosecutors described as having been made easy targets by their involvement in drugs and prostitution.

Prosecutors said Little was tied by DNA matches to the July 1987 murder of Carol Alford, 41, as well as to the August and September 1989 slayings of Audrey Nelson, 35, and Guadalupe Apodaca, 46.

All three were beaten and then strangled to death, and Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman said Little was a suspect in several similar murders in Florida and elsewhere during the same period of time.

Mr. Little, who was acquitted by a jury of a Florida slaying three decades ago, was connected to the L.A. killings after DNA evidence found at the crime scenes was matched with his DNA profile, obtained from an unrelated drug arrest in Kentucky in 2012, according to Reuters.

A prosecutor at the trial said Mr. Little could be responsible for at least 40 killings since 1980, according to AP, which reported that authorities in California, Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, Louisiana, Texas, Georgia, Mississippi and Ohio are investigating possible links.

DNA evidence, meanwhile, proved to be the key to freedom for two prison inmates In North Carolina.

On Tuesday, a North Carolina judge threw out the convictions of half-brothers Henry McCollum and Leon Brown, who had spent more than 30 years behind bars for the gang-rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl.

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DNA Evidence Key to Both Freedom and Prison in Decades-Old Murder Cases

Jonathan Drew, The Associated Press Published Wednesday, September 3, 2014 9:57AM EDT Last Updated Wednesday, September 3, 2014 10:46AM EDT

LUMBERTON, N.C. -- New DNA evidence has freed a death-row inmate and his half-brother after they spent three decades in prison for rape and murder.

A judge overturned the convictions of Henry McCollum, 50, and Leon Brown, 46, after another man's DNA was discovered on a cigarette butt left near the body of a girl the siblings were convicted of killing in 1983. Tuesday's ruling is the latest twist in a notorious legal case that began with what defence attorneys said were coerced confessions from two scared teenagers with low IQs. McCollum was 19 at the time and Brown was 15.

Superior Court Judge Douglas Sasser said the new DNA results contradicted the case prosecutors put forward.

He said he was vacating their convictions and ordering their release "based on significant new evidence that they are, in fact, innocent."

The DNA from the cigarette butts doesn't match Brown or McCollum, and fingerprints taken from a beer can at the scene aren't theirs either, attorneys say. No physical evidence connects them to the crime.

Both were initially given death sentences, which were overturned. At a second trial, McCollum was again sent to death row, while Brown was convicted of rape and sentenced to life.

Family members of the men gasped and some sobbed as the judge announced his decision to the packed courtroom. Brown smiled and shook a defence lawyer's hand and McCollum looked spent and relieved

"We waited years and years," said James McCollum, Henry McCollum's father. "We kept the faith."

Defence lawyers petitioned for their release after a recent analysis from the butt pointed to another man who lived near the soybean field where Sabrina Buie's body was found in Robeson County. That man is already serving a life sentence for a similar rape and murder that happened less than a month later.

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DNA frees death-row inmate and his half-brother after 30 years in prison

Jonathan Drew, The Associated Press Published Wednesday, September 3, 2014 10:43AM EDT

LUMBERTON, N.C. -- New DNA evidence has freed a death-row inmate and his half-brother after they spent three decades in prison for rape and murder.

A judge overturned the convictions of Henry McCollum, 50, and Leon Brown, 46, after another man's DNA was discovered on a cigarette butt left near the body of a girl the siblings were convicted of killing in 1983. Tuesday's ruling is the latest twist in a notorious legal case that began with what defence attorneys said were coerced confessions from two scared teenagers with low IQs. McCollum was 19 at the time and Brown was 15.

Superior Court Judge Douglas Sasser said the new DNA results contradicted the case prosecutors put forward.

He said he was vacating their convictions and ordering their release "based on significant new evidence that they are, in fact, innocent."

The DNA from the cigarette butts doesn't match Brown or McCollum, and fingerprints taken from a beer can at the scene aren't theirs either, attorneys say. No physical evidence connects them to the crime.

Both were initially given death sentences, which were overturned. At a second trial, McCollum was again sent to death row, while Brown was convicted of rape and sentenced to life.

Family members of the men gasped and some sobbed as the judge announced his decision to the packed courtroom. Brown smiled and shook a defence lawyer's hand and McCollum looked spent and relieved

"We waited years and years," said James McCollum, Henry McCollum's father. "We kept the faith."

Defence lawyers petitioned for their release after a recent analysis from the butt pointed to another man who lived near the soybean field where Sabrina Buie's body was found in Robeson County. That man is already serving a life sentence for a similar rape and murder that happened less than a month later.

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DNA clears death-row inmate and his half-brother after 30 years in prison

New DNA evidence has freed a death-row inmate after he spent three decades in prison for rape and murder. His half-brother was expected to be freed later on Wednesday.

Henry Lee McCollum spoke briefly to reporters before getting into the passenger seat of his fathers car, where a reporter had to show him how to buckle the seat belt. He had never used a seat belt of that design.

Mr. McCollum said he hoped to go home and take a bath. There will be changes to which hell need to adjust particularly the Internet and cellphones, he said.

A judge overturned their convictions after another mans DNA was discovered on a cigarette butt left near the girls body. Tuesdays ruling is the latest twist in a notorious legal case that began with what defence attorneys said were coerced confessions from two scared teenagers with low IQs. Mr. McCollum was 19 at the time and Leon Brown was 15.

Superior Court Judge Douglas Sasser said the new DNA results contradicted the case prosecutors put forward.

The DNA from the cigarette butts doesnt match Mr. Brown or Mr. McCollum, and fingerprints taken from a beer can at the scene arent theirs either, attorneys say. No physical evidence connects them to the crime.

Both were initially given death sentences, which were overturned. At a second trial, Mr. McCollum was again sent to death row, while Mr. Brown was convicted of rape and sentenced to life.

Family members of the men gasped and some sobbed as the judge announced his decision to the packed courtroom. Mr. Brown smiled and shook a defence lawyers hand and Mr. McCollum looked spent and relieved

We waited years and years, said James McCollum, Henry McCollums father. We kept the faith.

Defence lawyers petitioned for their release after a recent analysis from the butt pointed to another man who lived near the soybean field where Sabrina Buies body was found in Robeson County. That man is already serving a life sentence for a similar rape and murder that happened less than a month later.

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DNA frees 2 US men jailed for '83 rape, murder