A judge overturned the convictions of three Pennsylvania men who were imprisoned for decades for the 1997 murder of a 70-year-old woman, even though their DNA never matched that found at the scene.
The Delaware County judge overturned the convictions of Derrick Chappell, who was 15 when he was arrested, and his first cousins Morton Johnson and Sam Grasty. The District Attorney is reviewing the case to see if a new trial is necessary.
Chappel, Johnson and Grasty were convicted in separate trials of the murder of Henrietta Nickens, a 70-year-old woman who was brutally murdered in her home in Chester, Pennsylvania, on October 10, 1997.
Nickens was brutally beaten and her underwear was removed. Investigators found her home ransacked and blood on the walls and bedding.
A mysterious green jacket was found on top of Nickens’ television, with cocaine in the pocket.
Chappel (pictured), Johnson and Grasty have been in prison for decades, after each was convicted in separate trials of the murder of Henrietta Nickens, a 70-year-old woman.
After more than 20 years in prison and multiple requests for a new trial, a Pennsylvania judge finally granted his request. In the photo: Morton Johnson.
The DNA recovered at the scene of Nickens’ murder did not belong to any of the three individuals. In the photo: Samy Grasty
Investigators discovered semen in the woman’s rectum. They analyzed the semen and discovered that it did not belong to any of the three detainees.
Prosecutors, who have been characterized as bellicose, attempted to separate the recovered semen from the crime. They stated that the semen could have come from a consensual sexual relationship and was unrelated to the murder.
Nickens was chronically ill and had no known sexual partners.
The prosecution’s case against Chappel, Johnson and Grastly was based on the testimony of key witness Richard McElwee, who was 15 years old at the time of the crime.
McElwee testified that he acted as a lookout while the three older boys robbed Nickens of $30.
In exchange for his testimony, McElwee pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, as well as other charges. He was sentenced to serve six to 12 years in prison in 1999.
In 2000 and 2001, Chappel, Johnson and Grasty were convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Throughout their more than two decades in prison, the three men have continued to protest their innocence.
Each of them filed pro se petitions in federal court over the years saying they were wrongfully convicted, but their petitions were denied.
The fate of Chappel, Johnson and Grasty caught the attention of many organizations dedicated to freeing wrongfully convicted men and women.
The prosecution’s case in the early 2000s was based on the testimony of a 15-year-old boy who said he acted as a lookout for the three older boys. In the photo: Chapel
The three prisoners, now aged 40, have continued to receive support from their loving families. Pictured: Sam Grasty
Chappel received help from the Pennsylvania Innocence Project and some free legal services from the law firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon.
The Innocence Project provided support to Johnson and Grasty received help from Centurion.
The three men, now in their 40s, were also encouraged by the ‘Chester Trio’, a group of family members who unwaveringly support their relatives.
Last year, the Pennsylvania men’s case received renewed attention after Timothy Palmbach, a forensic expert who also testified in the Alex Murdaugh trial, changed the trajectory of the case with his testimony.
Palmbach testified that new DNA evidence, particularly a mixture of the unknown man’s semen, Nickens’ blood and urine on her sheet, showed that the violent assault on the victim and the sex occurred simultaneously.
This undermined a key part of the prosecution’s argument: that the sexual relationship had no connection to the crime.
Palmbach testified that the mixture “fundamentally changes the nature of the crime scene and the conclusion that can be drawn from it.”
In 2021, updated DNA techniques, especially the critical ‘touch DNA’ method, were applied to the case. Investigators discovered that the semen matched other evidence from the crime scene, including semen found on the sheet and on the mysterious green jacket.
In light of the newly acquired DNA samples, the defendants asked a judge to overturn their convictions and order a new trial. Palmbach’s testimony was part of the petition.
Over the course of their collective imprisonment, the three men have always maintained their innocence. Pictured: Johnson
Prosecutors argued that it didn’t matter that the DNA didn’t belong to them; They claimed it could have stemmed from a prior consensual sexual relationship. In the photo: Chapel
Prosecutors were undeterred by the new DNA evidence, arguing that because their original tests did not connect the semen to the three men, the new test results were moot and did not change the verdict. Each man, they noted, was convicted separately, one by a judge and two by juries.
Prosecutors wrote: “The entirety of the evidence, including post-conviction DNA testing, is as consistent, if not more, with Ms. Nickens having had consensual sexual relations prior to the assault as with an unknown perpetrator who committed rape.” and an assault.’
They continued: “People in their seventies are capable of sexual activity and, like all people, are not always able to tell close family members about their sexual partners.”
Prosecutors also attempted to question Palmbach’s credibility, pointing out that the forensic expert was not a DNA specialist. And they noted that Palmbach had testified at Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial in South Carolina, where he testified on behalf of the defense. His theory in the Murdaugh trial was rejected by the jury.
When Palmbach testified last year, the ‘Chester Trio’ gathered outside the courthouse, dressed in T-shirts bearing photos of their incarcerated loved ones.
“I just want everyone to know that my heart has been hurting for 26 years,” said Janet Purnell, Johnson’s mother. cnn.
New DNA testing in 2021 recovered more semen samples from the crime scene; They matched the semen sample found earlier, which belongs to an unknown man. In the photo: Chapel
She said: ‘Everyone needs to know that my son didn’t do that. They are innocent. And justice will prevail.’
Cynthia Chapell, Chappel’s mother, struck a similar tone: ‘I hope the judge makes the right decision. It’s been a long journey for them and me.’
Chappel added: “I just hope everything turns out well and justice prevails.”
On Thursday, justice appeared to prevail when a Delaware County judge ordered new trials for Chapell, Johnson and Grasty.
‘This case should never have been prosecuted. These guys should never have been charged. The evidence was always that they were innocent,’ Paul Casteleiro, Grasty’s attorney and legal director of the nonprofit Centurion, said Friday.
Prosecutors, he said, “just walked all over” the defendants.
The three defendants, all young men from the neighborhood, were convicted even though DNA tests conducted at the time showed that semen found on the victim’s body and on a jacket at the scene did not match any of them, Casteleiro said. .
He described the prosecutor’s various theories about the case as “absurd.”
To explain the lack of DNA match, he said, they argued that the victim perhaps had consensual sex before the murder, or that the three defendants brought a used condom to the scene, he said. However, Nickens was chronically ill and had no known male partners, she continued.
The case caught the attention of many organizations that advocate for the freedom of those wrongfully imprisoned, including the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, The Innocence Project, and Centurion. Pictured: Johnson and his Innocence Project attorney, Vanessa Potkin.
“They just published this absurd story and got the jurors to believe it,” Casteleiro said.
Common Pleas Court Judge Mary Alice Brennan in a hearing Thursday threw out the convictions and set a bond hearing for May 23 to determine whether county prosecutors will seek a new trial.
District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer plans to review the case next week before making a decision, a spokesman said Friday.
The three men will remain in prison while a prosecutor decides whether they will appeal.