Lonnie Erby

The Crimes

From July to October of 1985, a series of sexual assaults were committed on the northeast side of St. Louis, Missouri.

The first attack occurred on July 26, 1985 when a 14-year-old girl reported that she was forced at knifepoint into a vacant garage near Norwood and Maffitt Avenues where she was raped. The girl said the man had emerged from a gray car holding the knife. She said the man marched her down an alley to the garage where she was assaulted. She was taken to the hospital where a rape kit was prepared. The police also collected her shirt, jeans, and underwear. 

On Aug. 22, 1985, a 14-year-old girl was taking out trash in the 5700 block of Amelia Avenue when a man tackled her and sexually assaulted her while yelling expletives at her. After the attacker fled, the girl came home and notified the police. The police were unable to obtain biological evidence because the girl took a bath immediately after the assault.

On Sept. 30, 1985, two young women, ages 17 and 18, were walking in the 4000 block of North Grand Boulevard when a man confronted them with a handgun. He demanded their money. After taking $15, he forced the women to a vacant lot. At gunpoint, he made both women stand against a tree and began forcibly removing one of the victim’s clothing, all the while cursing at them. When the younger woman tried to resist, the man struck her with the handgun. At that point, the other woman ran away. This distracted the attacker and the other woman escaped.

On the morning of Oct. 1, 1985, a 14-year-old girl was walking to her cousin’s house when a man approached her from behind and threatened her with a knife. He forced her into a vacant house near Lillian and Davison Avenues where he sexually assaulted her. He then left after taking $35 and a cigarette lighter. The girl dressed and sought help at a nearby school. She was taken to the hospital where a rape kit was collected.

 Three days later, on Friday, Oct. 4, 1985, a 13-year-old girl in the 5500 block of West Florissant Avenue reported that a man was peering into her bedroom window. When police arrived, they began searching the area. They spotted 31-year-old Lonnie Erby walking in the vicinity and arrested him. A police officer would later say he had “a gut feeling” that Mr. Erby was the person the girl said was peering in her bedroom window.

The Investigation

The police held photographic and physical lineups. Four of the five victims identified Mr. Erby as their attacker. He was indicted on five counts of rape, three counts of kidnapping, two counts of sodomy, and one count each of attempted rape, first-degree sexual abuse, first-degree robbery, attempted first-degree robbery, felonious restraint, armed criminal action, and stealing from a person. Two of the attacks had occurred within a few blocks of where Mr. Erby was living at the time.

The Trial

In June 1986, Mr. Erby went to trial in St. Louis City Circuit Court. The prosecution used similarities in the proximity and manner of the assaults, and the age of the victims to argue that the crimes were committed by Mr. Erby. 

Prosecutors cited the victims’ pretrial identifications of Mr. Erby. There was no physical evidence definitively linking Mr. Erby to the crimes.

A forensic analyst testified that semen was identified in the rape kit collected from the 14-year-old girl in the first attack. Serology testing showed that the girl and Mr. Erby shared the same blood group markers, which were also consistent with the results of blood testing of the rape kit. The analyst testified incorrectly that these results could exclude 50 percent of the male population as possible perpetrators. Actually, no one could be excluded.

The defense asserted that Mr. Erby had been mistakenly identified and presented an alibi defense. Multiple witnesses placed him in other locations during the assaults.

On June 12, 1986, Mr. Erby was acquitted of the charges in the Sep. 30, 1985 attack, but was convicted of 11 charges arising from the other three attacks. 

On July 18, 1986, Judge Thomas F. McGuire sentenced Mr. Erby to 115 years in prison.

The Exoneration

In 1988, Mr. Erby, acting without a lawyer, requested DNA testing. The motion was denied without a hearing. On Oct. 16, 1990, the Missouri Court of Appeals remanded for a hearing, but the motion for a hearing was denied again. Mr. Erby appealed, and on March 3, 1992, the Court of Appeals affirmed.

Mr. Erby wrote to the Innocence Project. In 1995, the Innocence Project began working on Mr. Erby’s case. For six years, the Innocence Project sought consent to testing from the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce opposed DNA testing. 

In December 2000, Innocence Project attorneys Barry Scheck, Vanessa Potkin, Peter Neufeld, and Jane Seigel Greene filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of Mr. Erby and other men who were seeking DNA testing. Later that year, Missouri enacted its first post-conviction DNA statute. In November of 2001, the Innocence Project sought testing.

In April 2002, a judge ordered the testing to be conducted. Circuit Attorney Joyce initially appealed, but later withdrew the appeal. 

In August of 2003, Forensic Science Associates and the St. Louis Police Laboratory reported that they had independently conducted testing and excluded Mr. Erby from the July 26 and Oct. 1, 1985 assaults. 

 On Aug. 25, 2003, the prosecution dismissed the cases and Mr. Erby was released 17 years, 10 months, and 20 days after his arrest. 

Ultimately, Mr. Erby was awarded $311,800 in state compensation.