DNA Of Other Man Found On Murder Weapon Four Years After Prisoner Was Executed

Four years after Ledell Lee was executed in the state of Arkansas, authorities have made a huge discovery.

DNA found on the murder weapon, which had never been tested before, according to the New York Times, has been revealed to belong to another man.

Lee had professed his innocence ever since he became a suspect in the murder of 26-year-old Debra Reese in Jacksonville, Arkansas back in 1993.

His first trial ended with a hung jury and the second trial, which started in 1995, found him guilty and he was sentenced to death.

He sat on death row for two decades and hoped one day the truth would come out.

Lee was eventually executed on 20 April 2017 in what was the first completion of a death row execution in Arkansas in more than 10 years.

There were several attempts for DNA testing to be done on items found in the home of the murder victim.

There was even a push on the eve of Lee's execution, however the request was denied. A federal judge said Lee's execution had to go forward because it had been 'simply delayed too long'.

Ledell's sister, Patricia Young, launched a lawsuit back in January to have tests done and Jacksonville city officials obliged.

They released the bloody wooden club found in the victim's bedroom, a blood-stained white shirt that was wrapped around the club and several other items.

The tests have come back with someone else's DNA.

Patricia said in response to the dramatic revelation: "We are glad there is new evidence in the national DNA database and remain hopeful that there will be further information uncovered in the future."

The new DNA has been entered into the national database however has yet to come back with a match with anyone else already in the system.

The Innocence Project said the DNA was 'incomplete' and 'partial' however it represents a big shift in the case.

Despite the dramatic twist, authorities responsible for Lee's execution aren't budging.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said 'it's my duty to carry out the law' and added 'the fact is that the jury found him guilty based upon the information that they had'.

The state's Attorney General, Leslie Rutledge, also said: "The courts consistently rejected Ledell Lee's frivolous claims because the evidence demonstrated beyond any shadow of a doubt that he murdered Debra Reese by beating her to death inside her home with a tire thumper.

"I am prayerful that Debra's family has had closure following his lawful execution in 2017."

Featured Image Credit: Arkansas Department of Correction

Topics: News

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

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