Man Arrested in 1985 Georgia Church Murder of Couple After Initial Suspect Exonerated

Three years after the original suspect in a nearly 40-year-old double homicide was exonerated based on DNA evidence and released from prison after 20 years, a Georgia man has been arrested and charged in the murders.

On Monday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced the arrest of Erik Kristensen Sparre, 61, who was charged with two counts of felony murder and aggravated assault in the 1985 church deaths of Harold and Thelma Swain.

Sparre has been the subject of a renewed investigation for several years after a judge dismissed all charges against the man originally convicted of the murders, Dennis Perry.

The deacon of the church and his wife were killed

In the spring of 1985, a man walked into Rising Daughter Baptist in Waverly, Georgia and shot Harold Swain and his wife, Thelma.

Witnesses at the time provided descriptions that were used to create a composite sketch of the killer, and a pair of glasses that did not belong to anyone at the church was recovered from the crime scene, according to The Georgia Innocence Projectwho worked to eventually exonerate Perry for the 2021 murders.

The case, however, remained unsolved for nearly two decades, and both Perry and Sparre were initially ruled out by police as possible suspects.

Perry was later arrested in 2000 after being identified by a police informant who received a $12,000 reward from law enforcement. He was convicted in 2003 and sentenced to consecutive life terms, although the payment to the informant was not disclosed during the trial.

Perry’s case later became the subject of an investigation by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and was picked up by the Georgia Innocence Project.

DNA samples recovered from glasses left at the crime scene did not match Perry, but did match a sample the Georgia Innocence Project obtained from a relative of Sparre. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation also revealed inconsistencies in Sparre’s alibi.

In 2020, Perry’s conviction was overturned and the case was reopened by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Perry was released from prison and eventually acquitted of all charges in 2021.

Sparre was arrested in Waynesville, Georgia and booked into the Camden County Jail. Jail records did not reveal whether he sought legal counsel.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Georgia man arrested in 1985 killing of husband and wife at church