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A thread about justice in America and a question: Last week, Dennis Perry walked out of prison after 20 stolen years, thanks in part to my reporting. But I was just the last reporter to scrutinize the investigation into the murders of Harold and Thelma Swain. Consider this: 1/6
Two detectives -- aided by numerous helpers and tipsters -- toiled for thousands of hours over years to find the man who walked into Rising Daughter Baptist and killed the beloved couple in 1985. But the case grew cold. In 1998, a new detective was hired. 2/6
He was given a 1 year contract and told to solve the murders. Within days, he had chosen Perry as his chief suspect. The detective got hired full time. The witness who helped him bring down Perry got $12k in reward money, which would be a secret from the defense. 3/6
Perry was arrested in 2000 and later convicted, given life. In 2004, he wrote @GaInnocence. Employees of the nonprofit have worked untold hours on the case. The @Undisclosedpod spent months investigating. King & Spalding attorneys worked pro bono for two years. And...4/6
I spent months essentially living in South Ga. while reporting. I caught a break, debunking the alibi of an old suspect, whose DNA has now matched to the crime scene. The test, along with more work by the attorneys and a *new investigation* by the GBI, led to Perry's release. 5/6
Here's the question: It took one detective about week to "solve" the case. Why did it have to take numerous people, probably millions of dollars of work and a full 20 years to unsolve it? For a glimpse at what this delay meant, see my story in the @ajc: https://www.ajc.com/alibi-story/
