After almost 40 years, a Georgia man was charged with murdering a couple at a Black church in 1985.

According to WJBF, Erik Sparre, 61, was arrested and charged with felony murder and aggravated assault for the murder of Harold and Thelma Swain nearly four decades after committing the crime.

Sparre was arrested in Waynesville, about 90 miles southwest of Savannah, Georgia. According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Erik Sparre had previously denied murdering the Swains.

A new investigation into the Swains’ deaths began after the original suspect, Dennis Perry, was exonerated on DNA evidence.

In 2003, Perry was sentenced to life in prison after a jury convicted him of murdering the Swains. Perry spent two decades in prison for a crime he didn’t commit before he was ordered a retrial in 2020.

According to WJBF, attorneys for the Georgia Innocence Project tested DNA from hair from hairs found in the hinge of a pair of eyeglasses left next to the victims’ bodies, which matched Sparre, who was an early suspect.

An investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Consitution found that Sparre’s original alibi that he was working at a grocery store during the time of the killings was false.

The publication also reported that Sparre’s ex-wife, Emily Head, told police Sparre confessed to the murder in a phone message that was allegedly recorded and noted that jurors in Perry’s conviction were never told a key witness was paid $12,000 before testifying.

Since Dennis Perry was released from prison, he’s spent all his time reconnecting with friends and family. He says he never gave up hope when he was behind bars. “It took a long time, but I never gave up,” Perry told the Georgia Innocence Project in 2021. “This indictment has been hanging over my head for over 20 years, and it’s such a relief to finally not have to worry about being accused of this awful thing.”

Although he is free, he still has a long road ahead.

“Georgia is one of 14 states that does not currently have a statutory compensation law to provide financial relief for years lost to wrongful conviction,” Georgia Innocence Project wrote. “Without one, exonerees like Dennis are left on their own, with virtually no support from the State, to rebuild their lives.”

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