CLARENCE ELKINS: SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR A RAPE AND MURDER HE DID NOT COMMIT
35" X 50" _ Acrylic, Latex and Spraypaint
on Canvas
Clarence Elkins was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the murder and rape of his 68-year-old mother-in-law and the rape
of his six-year-old niece. Crimes he did not commit. The morning after the crimes were committed the girl told a neighbor
that the person who raped her looked like her uncle Clarence. She testified in court that he was the attacker.
During the
trial it was shown that hairs collected from both of the victims were DNA tested. The results of these tests showed that they
did not come from Clarence. There was no physical evidence at all connecting Clarence to the crimes. The only evidence against
Clarence was the testimony of his niece, who barely got a look at her attacker in very poor lighting. Clarence had a solid alibi:
his wife testified that he had gone for a walk with her at the time of the crime. He was convicted of murder, attempted murder
and rape anyway.
In 2002, Clarence’s niece changed her mind and recanted her testimony against her uncle. Clarence requested
DNA testing again and was denied. In spite of the ruling, Clarence moved on. He came up with his own funding for a new
type of DNA testing. Once again, the results of the test showed that Clarence could not possibly be the perpetrator of the rape
and murder. Once again Clarence moved for a new trial and, unbelievably, in 2005, was denied by the court.
The most remarkable
aspect of the case happened next: Clarence’s wife, who always believed in his innocence, began working with a private investigator.
They believed that the crime may have been committed by a convicted rapist who lived near the scene of the crime in 1998, when the
crime occurred. As fate would have it, this man ended up on the same cell block in prison with Clarence. Boldly, Clarence
picked up a cigarette butt the man had dropped on the prison floor and mailed it to his wife who had it DNA tested. The results
matched the profile found on the evidence from the crime scene. The real murderer and rapist had been found.
Clarence walked
out of prison on December 15, 2005, after serving 6 and a half years of a life sentence. He had helped solve the crime himself!
Convicted: 1999
Exonerated: 2005