Dateline NBC to feature Clarence Elkins case on Sunday

In 2005, Melinda Elkins got the break in her husband’s case she had been looking for. Her husband, Clarence Elkins, had been convicted in 1999 of killing Melinda’s mother and attacking her niece. Melinda, working with a private investigator, learned that a possible alternate suspect had been in the area at the time of the crime. And this man was now in the same cell block as Clarence.

Clarence picked up a cigarette butt that the man had smoked and mailed it to Melinda. She sent the cigarette to lawyers at the Ohio Innocence Project and they tested it for DNA. The results matched the DNA from the crime scene. Elkins was released later that year after serving more than seven years for a crime he didn’t commit. Prosecutors have said they are planning to charge the alternate suspect with this crime.

This Sunday at 7 p.m. ET, Dateline NBC reports on how Melinda Elkins helped crack Clarence’s case.

UPDATE:

Watch the full show online

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Check your local listings to find out when to watch Dateline this weekend.

Read more about the Clarence Elkins case

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