The prosecutor requested that the pubic hairs from the victim's lower back be compared to known samples from Owens and Thompson. Mark Profili, a forensic analyst in the Baltimore City Police Department Crime Laboratory, found the hair inconsistent with the samples of Owens's hair. Profili told the prosecutor the hairs were similar to the samples of Thompson's hair, but that he would need more samples to make a full report. The police interrogated Thompson again and told him that there was physical evidence linking him to the crime.
Back in court, Profili testified that Thompson's sample hairs and "the four that did not match either the victim or Mr. Owens showed sufficient similarities for me to request for more hairs for a better indepth analysis, comparison analysis, so I could draw a conclusion." The prosecution then recalled Thompson to the witness stand.
In his second appearance as a witness, Thompson changed his account, and said that he and Owens had broken into the home only to commit a burglary, but found Williar there. He said that he masturbated while Owens raped and murdered the woman.
Owens was convicted of murder and burglary, but acquitted of the rape. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Although Thompson recanted his testimony almost immediately, he was charged with murder, rape, burglary and a weapons offense. During his trial, prosecutors said a pubic hair found at the scene was a “match” to Thompson and that his blue jeans were stained with the victim’s blood. He was convicted of all charges and sentenced to life in prison.
The men lost their appeals, but in 2004, defense attorneys for Owens filed a post-conviction petition seeking DNA testing of an unanalyzed sperm sample collected from the victim’s body.
In late 2005, a judge granted the petition and ordered the testing. In September, 2006, the test results excluded Thompson and Owens as the source of the sperm. Testing on the bloodstained cutoff jeans showed it was male blood.
On May 24, 2007, Owens was granted a new trial on a joint motion by Owens’ attorney and the prosecution. The charges were dismissed on October 15, 2008 and Owens, 43, was released immediately from prison.
Thompson’s attorneys petitioned for DNA testing, but the trial court refused to grant the request. In 2009, the Maryland Court of Appeals ordered the tests to be conducted.
After further tests excluded Thompson, he was granted a new trial. In July 2010, Thompson, 51, pled no contest to second degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison, suspending all but the 22 years that he had already served. Thompson was then released.
In October, 2011, Owens filed a lawsuit against the city of Baltimore, the State’s Attorney’s Office and police, alleging that evidence was withheld and fabricated and perjured testimony was presented at his trial.
The lawsuit alleged that Owens’ boss told the prosecution that Owens was at work at the time of the crime, but the information was not passed on to the defense. The suit alleged that the prosecution also withheld evidence that a jailhouse snitch had written 11 letters to the prosecution seeking either better conditions or his release—evidence that could have been used as impeachment. The lawsuit was settled in May 2018 for $9 million, the largest such settlement in Baltimore history.
– Maurice Possley