A man acquitted at retrial after his conviction and death sentence for raping and murdering a woman was overturned was almost certainly the actual killer according to new DNA tests, a Florida prosecutor announced Wednesday.
Retesting shows DNA found in Pamela Albertson’s vagina came from Robert Earl Hayes, who was convicted but then acquitted of her 1990 strangulation and rape, Broward County State Attorney Harold PryorThe attorney who won his acquittal disputed Pryor's conclusion, saying Wednesday the evidence is not that clear -cut.
Hayes, now 58, was acquitted at a 1997 retrial in the death of Albertson, 32. The court ruling limited how prosecutors could link DNA evidence to Hayes and experts said tests showed that hairs Albertson was clutching came from an unidentified white person. Hayes is Black. His attorney, Barbara Heyer, pointed to a white track worker as the killer and told jurors that any DNA test linking Hayes to the slaying was flawed.
Hayes is serving a 15- to 45-year sentence in state prison in New York and is up again for parole in 2025, but supporters questioned his guilt in that case.Hayes claimed to have found Dickenson hanging from a rope in her burning dorm room. Her death was originally ruled a suicide despite her body having multiple stab wounds.
Because of the U.S. Constitution bar on double jeopardy, Pryor’s office cannot retry Hayes for Albertson’s murder. Pryor recently wrote to the New York parole board and prosecutors to advise them of the findings in hopes it will prevent his parole."We believe it is just as relevant to speak the truth about what happened in this case and try to hold Mr. Hayes accountable – to the extent possible," Pryor said.
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