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Rising Daughter Investigation

Rising Daughter Baptist Church was the site of the stunning murders of Harold and Thelma Swain on March 11, 1985. (Hyosub Shin / Hyosub.Shin@ajc.com)
Video: Introducing the Rising Daughter investigation
Reporter Joshua Sharpe covers crime and criminal justice for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A 2020 court filing by the Georgia Innocence Project says new DNA testing, prompted by Sharpe's reporting, may implicate an earlier suspect and not the man who has served 20 years in prison. (Tyson Horne / Tyson.Horne@ajc.com)
Audio: Hear the project podcast
Rising Daughter Baptist Church was the site of the stunning murders of Harold and Thelma Swain on March 11, 1985. (RYON HORNE RHORNE@AJC.COM)
The Imperfect Alibi: An AJC Investigation
Harold and Thelma Swain are buried in the cemetery next to the church where they were murdered in 1985.
A timeline of the ‘Rising Daughter’ case
In 2003, Dennis Perry was convicted in the Glynn County Magistrate Court in Brunswick for the 1985 murders of Harold and Thelma Swain. on Tuesday, May 5, 2020. Perry has always maintained his innocence. A court filing by the Georgia Innocence Project says new DNA testing matches Erik Sparre, an earlier suspect. New testing came after learning that AJC reporting uncovered problems with Sparre's alibi. (Hyosub Shin / Hyosub.Shin@ajc.com)
The team that brought you "The Imperfect Alibi" and how it was reported
More information
Joshua Sharpe (Photo by Max Blau)
AJC reporter wins national award for young journalists
Prosecutor John B. Johnson III during a hearing in Brunswick on July 13, 2020. (Ryon Horne/RHORNE@AJC.COM)
South Georgia prosecutor with decades of misconduct accusations resigns
On Nov. 11, 2020 in Spring Bluff, Georgia: The GBI exhumes the body of Harold Swain, who was murdered in 1985 inside Rising Daughter Baptist Church along with his wife Thelma. (Tyson Horne / Tyson.Horne@ajc.com)
GBI exhumes body of deacon murdered at Georgia church in 1985
GPB
Documentary on AJC reporting that helped free prisoner to air on GPB
The GBI search the home of Erik Sparre in the southeast area of Waynesville, Georgia, on Aug. 6, 2020. The GBI said the search was part of an effort to determine if Sparre was involved in the 1985 murders of Harold and Thelma Swain. (Tyson Horne / Tyson.Horne@ajc.com)
GBI searches property of man tied to Ga. church murders investigation
Dennis Perry, center, standing beside wife Brenda Perry gets emotional while thanking the team from the Georgia Innocence Project after they worked to get his release from 20 years behind bars, Thursday, July 23, 2020, in Nicholls, Ga. (Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Man walks free after conviction tossed in Ga. church murders
Prosecutor John B. Johnson III heads back to his area during the hearing for Dennis Perry in Brunswick on July 13, 2020. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation has found that Johnson has withheld evidence in a series of cases that he was legally required to share with the defense, evidence that defendants could have used to win an acquittal. (Ryon Horne/RHORNE@AJC.COM)
Dark legacy of overturned convictions trails longtime prosecutor
Dennis Perry in a recent photo. (Family photo)
Conviction overturned in Ga. church murders case
Features
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What is the Georgia Innocence Project?
Harold and Thelma Swain were shot in the vestibule of Rising Daughter Baptist Church in 1985. Harold's body lay in the far left corner of this recent image and Thelma's lay in a doorway to the sanctuary on the far right side. In 1985, the vestibule had two sets of double-doors leading into the sanctuary. The church has since been renovated so that those entrances have been replaced by a single set of double-doors, seen here at right. (Hysosub Shin / hyosub.shin@ajc.com)
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