Trial Judge Says New DNA Evidence Exonerates Four Texas Men of 1992 Murders

08.22.16 By Innocence Staff

Trial Judge Says New DNA Evidence Exonerates Four Texas Men of 1992 Murders

A judge that presided over a 1994 murder trial is recommending that the four defendants be exonerated, according to the Waco Tribune.

Retired Texas District Judge George Allen issued an opinion on Friday that, in light of new DNA evidence which excludes all four men, no reasonable jury would find them guilty.

Richard Bryan Kussmaul, James Edward Long, Michael Dewayne Shelton and James Wayne Pitts Jr. were convicted in relation to the 1992 murders of Leslie Murphy, 17, and Stephen Neighbors, 14. Long, Shelton and Pitts testified that they each sexually assaulted Murphy before Kussmaul shot and killed both victims. The trio recanted shortly after their convictions, saying a detective coerced them into signing confessions that he wrote by threatening them with the death penalty.

“I was willing to say anything they wanted me to say because I thought I was getting probation and no prison time,” Long said at a July hearing, according to the Tribune. “I had two small children and I was afraid of going to prison for life or, worse, getting executed.”

Long, Pitts and Shelton were each sentenced to 20 years in prison. Long and Pitts served their full terms and Shelton was released after 17 years. Kussmaul was sentenced to life in prison. Judge Allen said Kussmaul should be immediately released.

Read the Tribune coverage here.

Related: How Four Texan Lesbians, Wrongfully Convicted of Rape, are Still Fighting for Justice

 

 

 

Leave a Reply

Thank you for visiting us. You can learn more about how we consider cases here. Please avoid sharing any personal information in the comments below and join us in making this a hate-speech free and safe space for everyone.

This field is required.
This field is required.
This field is required.

athens rich August 27, 2016 at 3:16 pm Reply   

i would be interested in corresponding with some people in prison in order to offer support in the way of them having someone to talk to, to express themselves. I can’t support financially other than sending them cigarettes and blankets and books etc but have been thinking recently i’d like to do this, and the next minute i find this website, by chance. i don’t live in the US, i’m from the UK, presently living in Cyprus, part of the EU. Can you assist?