Anthony Massingill

The Crime

On Nov. 23, 1979, a man and a woman, J.P. and L.B., stopped at a liquor store in the 5400 block of Dolphin Avenue in Dallas, Texas, so J.P. could buy some cigarettes and L.B. could use the pay telephone in the parking lot. While L.B. was using the phone, she noticed two Black men using the pay phone next to her. When she finished her call, she walked back to J.P.’s vehicle. 

J.P. helped her get into the passenger seat and, as he walked around to get into the driver’s seat, one of the Black men came over, pulled out a handgun, and ordered J.P. to get into the car. The man then got into the back seat and put the gun to J.P.’s head. Meanwhile, the other Black man ordered L.B. to move to the center of the front seat and forced his way into the front seat next to her.

The men ordered J.P. to get onto Interstate Highway 30. As they drove, the men demanded that the couple hand over their cash. Soon after, the men ordered J.P. to leave the highway. They forced J.P. out of the car and drove off. J.P. called the police, who arrived about 10 minutes later and began searching for J.P.’s vehicle. 

The Black men stopped at a nearby park, where each man raped L.B. inside the vehicle. After discussing whether to kill her., the men forced her out of the car. They kept her driver’s license and her rabbit fur coat, and threatened to kill her if she called the police.

The woman managed to get to the side of the highway where she collapsed and was found unconscious by a passing police officer. 

J.P. described the Black man who had approached with a gun as about 23 years old, with a mustache, 6 feet tall, and weighing 180 pounds. He was wearing a white stocking cap and a white waist-length jacket. The second attacker was described as 23 years old, 150 pounds, 5 feet 6 inches tall, and wearing a blue jacket and a light brown beanie.

L.B. was taken to Parkland Hospital where a sexual assault kit was prepared. 

The Investigation

Five or six days later, the police learned that two men had entered a grocery store two miles from the liquor store, and attempted to sell a rabbit fur coat that matched the description of the L.B.’s coat. J.P.’s car was found abandoned in the parking lot.

On Dec. 1, 1979, police arrested two Black men, 20-year-old Cornelius Dupree Jr. and 18-year-old Anthony Massingill, 18, who were walking about two miles from the scene of the carjacking because they looked similar to two men being sought in a separate unrelated sexual assault committed on Nov. 30, 1979. Mr. Massingill was carrying a pistol.

The following day, J.P. and L.B., both of whom were white, viewed a photographic line-up. L.B. identified Mr. Dupree and Mr. Massingill as her attackers. J.P. was unable to identify either man. On that day, he had a medical condition that left him with blurry vision.

The Trial

In June 1980, Mr. Dupree and Mr. Massingill went to trial in Dallas County Criminal District Court on charges of robbery. The rape charges were held in abeyance. Both J.P. and L.B. identified Mr. Dupree and Mr. Massingill as the attackers. On June 25, 1980, the jury convicted Mr. Dupree and Mr. Massingill of aggravated robbery with a weapon. 

Mr. Dupree was sentenced to 75 years in prison. Mr. Massingill, who also was convicted of the separate Nov. 30, 1979 rape-robbery, also pled guilty to the rape of L.B. He was sentenced to three 10-year terms and a life sentence for the two crimes. 

The Exoneration

After Mr. Dupree’s appeals were denied, he wrote to the Innocence Project, and, in 2007, the organization learned that pubic hair combings and cuttings from L.B. were still preserved. In July 2008, the Innocence Project asked the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office for DNA testing.

On July 22, 2010, Mr. Dupree was released from prison on parole.

DNA testing was conducted by Forensic Science Associates (FSA) in Richmond, California. On May 10, 2010, FSA issued a report saying that two distinct male DNA profiles had been identified from spermatozoa found in the pubic hair in the rape kit. Samples of saliva were obtained from Mr. Dupree and Mr. Massingill. On July 30, 2010, FSA reported that DNA testing excluded Mr. Dupree and Mr. Massingill as the source of the DNA in the rape kit.

On Jan. 4, 2011, Mr. Dupree’s conviction was vacated and the prosecution dismissed the case against him.

Mr. Dupree later was awarded $2,499,805 in state compensation.

In 2014, Mr. Massingill, with the support of the Dallas County District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit, filed a state petition for a writ of habeas corpus seeking to vacate his conviction in the case in which Mr. Dupree’s conviction had been already vacated. 

On Sept. 17, 2014, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals vacated Mr. Massingill’s conviction for the Nov. 23, 1979 robbery and ordered a new trial. The appeals court also ordered a new sentencing for Mr. Massingill in his separate rape-robbery case because his conviction in the case with Mr. Dupree had been used to enhance his sentence in that case.

On Oct. 17, 2014, the prosecution dismissed the Nov. 23, 1979, robbery charge against Mr. Massingill, but he remained in prison serving a sentence for the other crime for which he had been convicted. Mr. Massingill sought compensation from the state of Texas, but the claim was denied.