Man charged over couple's 1985 killing after DNA evidence exonerates original suspect
Erik Kristensen Sparre, 61, was arrested nearly four decades after the couple was fatally shot inside the Rising Daughter Baptist Church in Camden County.
Wednesday 11 December 2024 04:32, UK
A Georgia man has been charged over the 1985 killing of a couple at a black church after the original suspect was exonerated by DNA evidence.
Erik Kristensen Sparre is facing felony murder and aggravated assault charges over the killings of Harold and Thelma Swain.
The 61-year-old was arrested nearly four decades after the couple were fatally shot inside the Rising Daughter Baptist Church in Camden County.
Sparre became the focus of a renewed investigation after authorities concluded they had initially prosecuted the wrong man.
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Dennis Perry was sentenced to life in prison when a jury convicted him in 2003 of murdering the Swains.
He spent two decades in prison before a Superior Court judge ordered a retrial in 2020.
The judge dismissed all charges against Mr Perry in 2021 after prosecutors asked to drop the case.
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Investigators and the courts took a fresh look at the case after attorneys for the Georgia Innocence Project tested DNA from hairs found in the hinge of a pair of glasses left next to the victims' bodies.
They said the DNA matched Sparre, who had once been considered a suspect, and not Perry.