I remember the story on the news like it was yesterday. It was a huge news story around here.
The man convicted and sent to life in prison was a guy named Clarence Elkins. The Uncle to the little girl and the son-in-law to the grandmother. The little girl told police that the killer "looked" like her Uncle Clarence. Nothing else linked him to the crime other than a distraught little six year old's word.
The wife, now ex-wife (MY NEIGHBOR) knew in her heart that her husband could never do such a thing as to hurt her own mother and niece so she set out to prove her husbands innocents. During the first 6 1/2 years he spent in prison Melinda, the wife would watch every episode of shows like Forensic Files and learn how to "catch a killer" she read and taught herself how to be a investigator, how to collect DNA. With a list she had compiled of suspects she thought could have done this she put herself in many dangerous situations such as finding these suspects at the bars and becoming friends with them, sweet talking, flirting whatever she had to do to get their DNA. She even had the bar maids working with her to save the beer bottles or cigarette butts that might contain their DNA. After spending her own money to get six DNA test done there was no match.
A part of the story is that there was some sort of DNA (a pubic hair, and sperm) left on the victim and it did NOT match Clarence but the judge said the hair could of came from anyone that entered the house and so it did not exclude Clarence.
Years later the little girl saw a picture of her Uncle Clarence realizing he had blue eyes and she remembered the killer as having green eyes. She reached out to her Aunt( my neighbor) who had been shunned from the family for sticking by her husband, and told her that she remembers the killer having green eyes. That gave Melinda even more ammunition to keep looking for the real killer. She remembered the next door neighbor that her niece had ran to their house the next morning after she awoke from being left for dead. She started to realize some very disturbing facts from the little girls testimony. She ran to the neighbors house and instead of the woman letting the girl in and calling 911 she left the girl on the steps for 45mins then took her home claiming to the girls mother that the girl says her grandmother was killed. So Melinda wanted to know more about this woman. Turns out she was the common law wife to a convicted child rapist and she was charged as well for aiding and abetting in his crimes. They lived within feet of the crime scene. Earl Mann also looked very identical to Clarence, except for the eye color. And at the time he was living in the home on a 15 day window from and then back to prison.
Earl Mann had been sent to prison for other un-related rape charges. He was also sharing the same pod with Clarence!!!!! Clarence with the instructions from his wife carried around a tissue in his pocket waiting for the chance to collect Earls DNA. As they are sitting in the court yard Clarence watches Earl put out a cigarette. He collects it, sends it to his wife sealed in a plastic bag. She and by this time she has the "Innocents Project" working with her as well as a team of lawyers get the cig butt tested and it comes back a match!!
In 2005, 6 1/2 years later Clarence was exonerated of all charges and released from prison. Their marriage was already on the rocks before all this happened and it did not last after Clarence came home for Im sure many reasons but she is re-married and lives right beside me. Now her husband works with my boyfriend and they are new bestfriends, drinking buddies.
There is a award winning Doc made about this, dateline, forensic files, this show, that show, they have let us borrow all the dvds of the shows, some of you have probably seen them, books and now a major big screen movie is in the works, the producer is bringing her the screenplay next week and she wants me to do her hair.
this is just too much!! She is a public speaker against the death penalty, she is trying to get it abolished. She is one hell of a woman, breast cancer survivor and also a "Hicks Baby" yes, she was sold out of a black market adoption clinic in Georgia in the 50's. By a Dr. Hicks (google it) who sold these babies for a $1000 to anyone who wanted one. They know out of about 200 babies 49 were sold to family's in the Akron, Ohio area. My neighbor being one of them. Her mother that was murdered was her adoptive mother. They appeared on Maury's talk show together talking about this just a couple months before she was murdered.
crazy shit man!
http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content ... Elkins.php
http://freepages.misc.rootsweb.ancestry ... HICKS1.htm
I'd apply an ANR special discount.
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in helping her sue the County. Being that he watched from his living room window the cops over look evidence and he said he knows the cops left the crime scene unattended for 45 mins. 
I always like reading your posts and your reasoning. It's like being back at University, and that's not meant to sound patronising!