Nearly 40 years after the brutal murder of Harold and Thelma Swain at a Black church in Waverly, Georgia, Erik Sparre, 61, was arrested and charged with felony murder and aggravated assault. The Swains were killed inside Rising Daughter Baptist Church in 1985, and Sparre’s arrest comes after a series of developments that overturned the conviction of Dennis Perry, who had been wrongfully imprisoned for the crime.
Dennis Perry had been convicted in 2003 and sentenced to life in prison for the murders of the Swains, but new DNA evidence exonerated him in 2020. The Georgia Innocence Project played a critical role in uncovering the truth, as DNA from hairs found at the crime scene, on a pair of eyeglasses next to the victims, matched Sparre. Investigations also revealed that Sparre’s original alibi had been fabricated, and a former spouse of his, Emily Head, testified that Sparre had confessed to the murders.
The wrongful conviction and Perry’s eventual release after spending 20 years behind bars highlight the importance of re-examining cold cases. For Perry, the exoneration has been a long-awaited victory. “It took a long time, but I never gave up,” Perry said after his release in 2021. However, despite being free, Perry faces the challenge of rebuilding his life without compensation, as Georgia lacks a statutory law to compensate wrongfully convicted individuals.
Sparre’s arrest brings a new chapter in the decades-old case, and though Perry is free, he continues to advocate for justice and support for exonerees who must navigate life after wrongful conviction.