DNA indicates three men wrongly convicted of 1997 murder.

Three Men Seek New Trials After DNA Results Cast Doubt on​ Their Convictions

Three men convicted of murdering a ​70-year-old ⁢woman in 1997 are hoping ​DNA results will ⁣get them ⁣new trials after maintaining ⁤their innocence for more than ‌20 years.

Derrick Chappell, 41; ‌Morton⁢ Johnson, 43; and Samuel Grasty, 46,⁤ were all found guilty of⁤ second-degree murder in separate trials,⁤ the Delaware⁤ County Daily Times reported. Chappell⁢ and ‌Grasty‌ each received life sentences, while Johnson received 99 years⁢ in prison, ⁤which is ⁢essentially‍ a life​ sentence.

At the time that​ 70-year-old Henrietta Nickens⁣ was‌ murdered inside her ‍one-bedroom apartment in Philadelphia, Chappell was 15, Grasty was 20, and Johnson was 18.‌ A fourth teenager, 15-year-old ⁣Richard⁢ McElwee, turned the three in and took a plea deal for third-degree murder and​ conspiracy to robbery. He received a sentence of 6-12 years in prison.

But new DNA testing casts doubt that Chappell, Johnson,⁢ or Grasty were involved in the murder,​ The ‍Washington Post reported. Attorneys for the ⁢three men have said that recent DNA testing found none of ⁤the​ convicted men’s DNA on ​the victim.⁣ In fact, ​the DNA results suggested that an unknown man ⁢was solely responsible for‍ the crime.

Nickens was brutally⁤ beaten to death during a violent struggle, yet no DNA from Chappell, Grasty, Johnson, or McElwee was‌ found in the victim’s apartment. Their ‌DNA was also not found on a green jacket‌ left at⁣ the scene, believed ⁣to be ⁣the only physical ​evidence to link them to‌ the crime, the Post reported.

Attorneys for ‌the men​ told the Post that the DNA evidence points​ to an ​alternate suspect, whose⁣ DNA was found ⁢in multiple places around the crime‍ scene as well as on Nickens’ bed, mixed with her own ⁢DNA. That‍ DNA was also found⁤ on the green‌ jacket and on a chewed straw in the⁣ jacket pocket. This genetic profile had been obtained in the late 1990s from a semen sample​ recovered from Nickens, which attorneys for‌ the defendants argued must have come from a sexual assault since Nickens had no​ boyfriend and was not in⁤ good ‌health.

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So far, no one has been identified as ​the source of ⁢this DNA.

“We now⁢ have the DNA evidence that really shows this was done by one ⁣unknown person,” Pennsylvania Innocence Project attorney Nilam Sanghvi told the Post. “The defendants have ‍been excluded from everything. The notion that [the] four … could somehow commit this‍ crime without leaving a trace of their DNA seems absurd.”

Delaware County​ District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer has‌ opposed a motion to vacate ⁤the convictions, ‌arguing ⁤in a brief that ⁢the DNA ⁣tests⁢ wouldn’t have ‌changed the⁢ outcomes of the ⁢defendant’s trials.

“Absent compelling evidence of innocence, the trial court’s verdict should​ not be disturbed,” Stollsteimer wrote. “The postconviction DNA ​evidence is neither compelling nor is it ‌evidence of innocence.”