COMMENT. BUT I HAVEN’T HEARD BACK. REPORTING LIVE FROM SAINT AUGUSTINE CORLEY PEEL
CHANNEL 4 THE LOCAL STATION.
>>KENT JUSTICE: TODAY THE I
TEAM LEARNED A JUDGE WILL
DECIDE WHETHER A MAN SITTING IN
PRISON FOR 2 DECADES WILL GET A
NEW TRIAL.
INVESTIGATORS REOPEN THE 1985
CASE OF A HUSBAND AND WIFE FOR
MURDER DIRT INSIDE A CAMDEN
COUNTY CHURCH AFTER NEW DNA
EVIDENCE
WAS UNCOVERED. I TEAM
INVESTIGATOR ZACLASHWAY
EXAMINES THE EVIDENCE THAT
COULD PROVE THIS MAN’S
INNOCENCE.
>> OF HIGHWAY 17 IN WAVERLY GEORGIA STATE’S RISING DAUGHTER BAPTIST CHURCH.
♪
>> IT WAS HERE DURING BIBLE STUDY IN 1985 DEACON HERALD SWAIN AND HIS
WIFE THELMA WERE GUNNED DOWN IN
FRONT OF FELLOW WORSHIPPERS I
DIDN’T REALLY LOOKING AT HIM
THIS WITNESS 35 YEARS LATER IS
STILL AFRAID TO SPEAK PUBLICLY,
I KNOW YOU LIKE YEAH, ONE OF AT
LEAST 9 PEOPLE INSIDE THE
CHURCH AND ON THE COMMUTE IN
THAT
MONDAY EVENING. HOW ABOUT HOW
THE POLICE REPORT DETAILING
WHAT HAPPENED SAYS A MAN CAME
TO THE CHURCH ASKING TO SPEAK
WITH THE CAN IN
THE HAIR AGAIN THEY WON WHAT
YOU WON’T NEED THE REPORT
STATES WAYNE MET THE SUSPECT AT
THE ENTRANCE OF THE CHURCH AND
THE READER INTO THE BIN THAT
YOU.
>> THEN THEY CRY AND GRIEVE
THE GUN.
>> NEWS FOR JAX HAS COVERED
THIS STORY SINCE 1985 IN BEFORE
I COULD GET THE CAR DOOR OPEN.
I HEARD THE SHOTS. 4 SHOTS.
THE GUNMAN KILLED, THELMA AS SHE RAN TO HELP HER HUSBAND.
>> THIS IS THE BEST TO DEAL
WITH THE SWINGS WERE SHOT AND
KILLED THE WOMEN INSIDE
THE SANCTUARY WHO WITNESSED THE
MURDERS RAN FOR THEIR
LIVES INTO.
>> THE PASTORS HEADQUARTERS I
JUST DON’T BELIEVE THAT IS
REALLY HAPPENED.
♪
JUST ONE OF THE THINGS YOU SEE HAPPEN ♪
HAPPEN ♪ JUST YET. ONE OF THE LEAD.
>> THE NIGHT OF THE MURDERS THE PHONE LINE TO THE CHURCH WAS CAUGHT.
>> AN WE SAY DOWN.
♪
WE CAME THING THE SHOW
DON’T NIGHT. WE KNOW HE WILL
COME HERE. WE NEED TO KNOW
♪
THAT BILL.
WELL WE WANT TO WORK WITH IN
THE CARE TO TRY TO YOU KNOW
LIKE TO GET MY MAN BY THE WAY I
DON’T KNOW MAYBE YOU LARRY.
♪
♪
♪ >> YOU KNOW PEOPLE WALKING ONLY PROBLEM I DON’T KNOW.
>> THE ONLY ONE ABLE TO ROUT
WITH HILL.
>> WE’RE AND MAKING THIS
WITNESS IS ONE OF ONLY A FEW
PEOPLE STILL ALIVE WHO SAW THE
MURDERS IS THOUGH
A FORWARD.
>> ON-LOAN CAN IS HURTFUL WHEN
YOU WALK IN AND YOU
KNOW AND AND I CAN TO SEE TO
IMAGINE HIM SEEN HIM LAYING
DOWN ON THE FLOOR, YOU KNOW.
AND
SO IT.
>> I THINK ABOUT IT ALL THE
TIME I NEVER LEAVE MY MIND, YOU
KNOW INVESTIGATORS FOUND SHELL
CASINGS SERBIA AND A SEVERED
PHONE LINE
AND EYEGLASSES WITH 3 HAIRS
BELONGING TO A WHITE PERSON AT
THE
CRIME SCENE SKETCHES LED TO
HUNDREDS OF POTENTIAL SUSPECTS
INVESTIGATED BY THE
STATE’S ROUTE AN 18 YEAR PERIOD
ONE YEAR AFTER THE MURDERS ERIC
SPAR
WAS ARRESTED SPARS FORMER
FATHER-IN-LAW FRANC HEAD SHARED
WITH INVESTIGATORS. A RECORDING OF SPAR BRAGGING HE KILLED 2 PEOPLE IN
A CHURCH SPARS EX-WIFE EMILY
HAD IDENTIFIED THE GLASSES
FOUND AT THE CHURCH AND STATED
THAT THEY LOOKED LIKE THE ONES
MISTER SPOHR AD
ACCORDING TO COURT RECORDS BUT
INVESTIGATORS DID NOT FIND ANY
OTHER PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
CONNECTING SPARTA THE CRIME AND
EVENTUALLY LET HIM GO.
>> VERY VIOLENT.
>> I SPOKE TO RHONDA TYSON
SPARSE SECOND EX-WIFE DID HE
EVER SAY HE KILLED THEM.
>> MORE THAN ONE OCCASION AND HIS VIOLENT RAGES
♪
RAGES ♪ I’LL KILL YOU LIKE I
KILLED THOSE. AM
♪
WORD.
♪ WORD. IN CAMDEN COUNTY.
♪
>> ENTER DENNIS PARRY IN 2015 YEARS AFTER THE MURDERS. POLICE ARRESTED
HIM BASED ON TESTIMONY FROM A
SINGLE TIPSTER WHO HAPPENED TO
BE THE MOTHER OF PERRY’S
EX-GIRLFRIEND COURT DOCUMENTS
SHOW THE CHIEF INVESTIGATORS
DURING THE FIRST SEVERAL YEARS
OF THE INVESTIGATION CONFIRMED
AND DOCUMENTED
PERRY’S ALIBI HE WAS AT WORK IN
THE ATLANTA AREA ON THE DAY OF
THE MURDERS COULD NOT HAVE MADE
IT TO WAVERLEY IN TIME TO BE
PRESENT AT THE CRIME SCENE AND
EYE EXAM DETERMINED. PERRY HAD
20 20 VISION IN EACH EYE DNA
EVIDENCE COLLECTED FROM THE
HAIRS FOUND ON THE GLASSES HAD
EXCLUDED PERRY AS A CONTRIBUTOR
IN THIS DNA DID NOT THE DENNIS
EXCUSE AND BAA IS PERRY’S CAUSE
IT JUST BLEW
MY MIND.
>> I MEAN I STARTED CRYING HE
HAD AN ALIBI THE AMERICAN
♪
>> DAN US. HAS BEEN LIFE A
FIELD HAS HE EVER SAID TO YOU.
I DID NOT
DO THIS. SURE YES, I MEAN HE REALLY DIDN’T HAVE TO SAY THAT I KNOW YOU DIDN’T DO IT.
THE JURY CONVICTED PERRY IN
2003.
>> A JUDGE SENTENCED HIM TO
LIFE
IN PRISON. SINCE PERRY’S
CONVICTION AT THE GEORGIA
INNOCENCE PROJECT AND ATTORNEYS
REPRESENTING PERRY DISCOVERED
THE TIPSTER WHO TOLD
INVESTIGATORS. PERRY KILLED
THE SWINGS WAS PAID $12,000 FOR
HER ROLE IN THE PROSECUTION.
IN FEBRUARY ERIC SPARS MOTHER
VOLUNTARILY GAVE A DNA SAMPLE.
2 GEORGIA INNOCENCE
PROJECT INVESTIGATORS. THE DNA
WAS COMPARED TO HAIRS FOUND ON
THE EYEGLASSES AT THE SCENE
MORE THAN
35 YEARS AGO. IT WAS A MATCH A
LAB CONCLUDED THE HAIRS COULD
HAVE ONLY COME FROM LESS THAN
ONE-HALF OF ONE PERCENT OF THE
U.S. POPULATION AND SPAR WAS IN
THAT GROUPING
LAST MONTH ATTORNEYS FOR DENNIS
PERRY FILED A MOTION
ASKING FOR A NEW TRIAL BASED ON
THAT DNA EVIDENCE POINTING TO
ERIC’S FAR COLD CHILLS.
HAHA WE WENT TO SPARS HOUSE IN WAYNESVILLE GA. NO ONE ANSWER PASS.
♪
BEHIND THAT QUIET IN QUEEN WHITE CHURCH REST THE SWAIN’S LOT OF TEARS SHED BURIED JUST
FEET AWAY FROM A MYSTERY AND
A TRAGEDY. IT’S NEVER BEEN
FULLY RESOLVED.
>> AGAIN JUST THIS AFTERNOON THE I TEAM CONFIRMED A JUDGE WILL HEAR ABOUT THE RECENTLY
UNCOVERED DNA EVIDENCE IN JULY
AND DECIDE WHETHER DENNIS PARRY
SHOULD GET A NEW TRIAL.
THE EVIDENCE IS OUTLINED IN
THIS MOTION NEXT 24 PAGES,
KENT,
OKAY, THE CHAIN OF EVENTS
PRETTY INCREDIBLE HERE AND
CERTAINLY MORE QUESTIONS I
THINK THAT AND THEN ANSWERS
THAT COME OUT OF THIS IS THAT I
UNDERSTAND YOU REACHED OUT TO
PERRY’S FAMILY TONIGHT.
>>KENT JUSTICE: WHAT DID THEY
SAY
TO YOU.
>> YES, I SPOKE WITH THEM ON
THE PHONE TODAY AS YOU MIGHT
IMAGINE THEY WERE EMOTIONAL
AND EXCITED AND THEY ISSUED
THIS STATEMENT SAYING QUOTE WE
ARE SO INCREDIBLY HAPPY WITH
THE RECENT DEVELOPMENTS.
BUT AS BEN 20 YEARS, IT’S TIME
FOR DENNIS TO COME HOME AND FOR
THIS WAYNE’S TO GET JUSTICE.
AND WE OF COURSE WILL CONTINUE
TO FOLLOW THIS DEVELOPING STORY
AND BRING YOU. THE LATEST ON