More DNA evidence to be offered in '85 slaying of Beatrice woman
Published Wednesday October 15, 2008
LINCOLN — A defense attorney said he will present more DNA evidence
today that bolsters his efforts to exonerate two men convicted 19 years
ago in a rape-murder in Beatrice, Neb.
A hearing is scheduled this morning in Saline County District Court on new evidence collected in the cases of Joseph White and Thomas Winslow.
They were among six people convicted in the 1985 slaying of 68-year-old Helen Wilson.
Winslow's attorney, Jerry Soucie of the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy, said he will present new DNA test results that, like those released this summer, indicate that semen and blood samples found at the crime scene don't match Winslow or White.
"I'm pleased," said Soucie of the new tests.
Blood and semen samples were taken from a dozen additional locations at the murder scene, he said. Wilson and one male are the only matches for the samples, the defense attorney said, and the male's DNA doesn't match either convicted man or the DNA in any state or national database.
"So far, we don't have a hit on him," said Soucie of the unidentified male.
He said he believes the DNA might match a man suspected but never arrested in the attempted sexual assaults of three elderly women in Wilson's neighborhood in 1983.
Soucie and Doug Stratton of Norfolk, White's attorney, have filed motions seeking the release of both White and Winslow, or at least new trials.
If either motion is granted, it would be a first for Nebraska on the basis of DNA testing, which has overturned more than 200 convictions nationwide.
Gage County Attorney Randy Ritnour and lawyers from the Nebraska Attorney General's Office will be present at today's hearing. The Attorney General's Office declined to comment Tuesday. Ritnour, who was not in office for the 1989 trial, did not return phone messages.
In August, the Attorney General's Office was granted a motion to do DNA tests on other biological evidence that defense attorneys did not have tested.
White was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. Winslow pleaded no contest to aiding and abetting second-degree murder, and he was sentenced to 10 to 50 years in prison.
Three co-defendants in the case testified at White's trial that they saw White and Winslow take turns sexually assaulting Wilson while another co-defendant, Ada JoAnn Taylor, held a pillow over her face, suffocating her.
Winslow's attorneys said the testimony helped persuade Winslow to plead no contest to avoid the death penalty.
Taylor recently said she lied during her testimony.
• Contact the writer: 402-473-9584, paul.hammel@owh.com
A hearing is scheduled this morning in Saline County District Court on new evidence collected in the cases of Joseph White and Thomas Winslow.
They were among six people convicted in the 1985 slaying of 68-year-old Helen Wilson.
Winslow's attorney, Jerry Soucie of the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy, said he will present new DNA test results that, like those released this summer, indicate that semen and blood samples found at the crime scene don't match Winslow or White.
"I'm pleased," said Soucie of the new tests.
Blood and semen samples were taken from a dozen additional locations at the murder scene, he said. Wilson and one male are the only matches for the samples, the defense attorney said, and the male's DNA doesn't match either convicted man or the DNA in any state or national database.
"So far, we don't have a hit on him," said Soucie of the unidentified male.
He said he believes the DNA might match a man suspected but never arrested in the attempted sexual assaults of three elderly women in Wilson's neighborhood in 1983.
Soucie and Doug Stratton of Norfolk, White's attorney, have filed motions seeking the release of both White and Winslow, or at least new trials.
If either motion is granted, it would be a first for Nebraska on the basis of DNA testing, which has overturned more than 200 convictions nationwide.
Gage County Attorney Randy Ritnour and lawyers from the Nebraska Attorney General's Office will be present at today's hearing. The Attorney General's Office declined to comment Tuesday. Ritnour, who was not in office for the 1989 trial, did not return phone messages.
In August, the Attorney General's Office was granted a motion to do DNA tests on other biological evidence that defense attorneys did not have tested.
White was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. Winslow pleaded no contest to aiding and abetting second-degree murder, and he was sentenced to 10 to 50 years in prison.
Three co-defendants in the case testified at White's trial that they saw White and Winslow take turns sexually assaulting Wilson while another co-defendant, Ada JoAnn Taylor, held a pillow over her face, suffocating her.
Winslow's attorneys said the testimony helped persuade Winslow to plead no contest to avoid the death penalty.
Taylor recently said she lied during her testimony.
• Contact the writer: 402-473-9584, paul.hammel@owh.com