‘Mr. X' murder case finally goes to trial

By Ty Tagami

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Jury selection will continue Wednesday in the trial of a man linked by DNA evidence to the 1994 strangling of a woman in southeast Atlanta's Reynoldstown neighborhood.

Michael Harvey, 49, is charged with murder, rape, assault and related charges in connection with the death of Valerie Payton, according to the Fulton County District Attorney's Office.

The 39-year-old woman's body was found Oct. 19, 1994, naked and wrapped in a blanket. It had been dumped in high weeds near a railroad track.

The cause of death was strangulation. Authorities said at the time that her body was slashed after she died. A note attached to her said, "I'm back in Atlanta, Mr. X."

Homicide detectives at the time said Payton had a record of prostitution, and her death initially was linked to as many as eight unsolved killings of other streetwalkers. But two other men were convicted of at least two of those deaths.

Neighbors said at the time that Payton was a crack addict. She had a 9-year-old son, and they said the boy looked for her after school on his birthday, the day before her body was found.

Harvey was released from the Georgia prison system in 2007 after serving two years on an aggravated assault conviction. He also was imprisoned four other times since 1980 for crimes such as aggravated assault with intent to rape, burglary and car theft.

Police arrested him in 2008 in connection with Payton's death.

His DNA was linked to the crime in 2005, the Fulton District Attorney's Office said Monday.

Georgia law has required since 2000 that the state collect samples from state prison inmates. The state also now requires DNA samples from felons sentenced to probation.