“DNA debacle in murder case”
DNA from multiple people has been found on evidence in a 1990 double slaying, but it has not been tested against a man on Kentucky’s death row for the killings.
A hat used as evidence in the case of Thomas Clyde Bowling had DNA from three people and a jacket had DNA from two, according to preliminary tests described in court filings.
Bowling, 54, was convicted of the murders of Eddie and Tina Earley outside their Lexington dry cleaning store, Early Bird Cleaners. Their young son survived the attack.The DNA evidence has not been compared to a sample from Bowling because prosecutors have objected to the tests. Bowling’s lawyers are asking Fayette Circuit Judge Kim Bunnell to vacate his conviction based on preliminary test results.
The test results were made public in court filings Monday and Tuesday in Fayette Circuit Court in Lexington.
Bowling’s attorney, assistant public advocate David Barron, said the preliminary results are enough to throw Bowling’s conviction in the case into question.
A witness identified the shooter as wearing the hat and jacket and prosecutors said at trial that both items were found near Bowling when he was arrested.
The presence of DNA from multiple people invalidates the prosecution theory that Bowling was the only person involved in the killings and the testimony of the eyewitness who identified the hat and jacket, Barron said.
“If Bowling’s DNA isn’t on it, it definitely helps him,” Barron said. “Even if his DNA is on it, it still helps him.”
Fayette County Commonwealth Attorney Ray Larson said DNA testing in the case is useless because multiple people have probably handled the evidence in the 18 years since the murders.
