Clarence Elkins Finds Real Killer
In 1998 in Barberton, Ohio, Clarence Elkins was convicted of the rape and murder of his mother-in-law, Judith Johnson, and the assault and rape of her six-year-old granddaughter, based solely on the child’s initial testimony that the attacker looked like her Uncle Clarence. DNA testing after his conviction proved that the biological evidence from the crime scene did not match Elkins, yet the judge still denied his appeals and kept the verdict in place.
Elkins and his wife, Melinda, then launched their own investigation, identified neighbor and convicted sex offender Earl Mann as a suspect, and secretly collected a cigarette butt from Mann in prison. When tests showed Mann’s DNA matched the crime scene samples, authorities finally dropped the charges and exonerated Elkins after he had spent about six and a half years behind bars.