Nearly 40 years after the brutal murders of Harold and Thelma Swain inside a Georgia church, authorities have arrested a new suspect, Erik Kristensen Sparre, based on DNA evidence that cleared the original defendant in the case.
Arrest Made Decades After Black Church Murders
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) announced Monday that Erik Kristensen Sparre, 61, has been charged with felony murder and aggravated assault in connection with the 1985 killings of Harold and Thelma Swain at Rising Daughter Baptist Church in Camden County.
Sparre was taken into custody at his residence in Waynesville, Georgia, approximately 90 miles southwest of Savannah, and booked at the Camden County Jail.
Wrongful Conviction Overturned
The arrest follows years of legal battles and renewed investigations after Dennis Perry, who had been convicted of the murders in 2003 and sentenced to life imprisonment, was exonerated.
Perry’s conviction began to unravel after attorneys from the Georgia Innocence Project used DNA testing on hairs found on a pair of eyeglasses left at the crime scene. The DNA did not match Perry but instead matched Sparre, who had been an early suspect in the case.
In 2020, a Superior Court judge granted Perry a retrial, and all charges against him were dismissed in 2021 at the request of prosecutors.
DNA and Alibi Break Sparre’s Case
The DNA match to Sparre, coupled with inconsistencies in his alibi, brought investigators back to the case. Sparre had previously claimed he was working at a grocery store at the time of the murders, but The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported evidence that contradicted his alibi.
The newspaper also raised doubts about Perry’s initial conviction, noting that jurors had not been informed that a key witness against Perry had been paid a $12,000 reward for their testimony.
A Long-Awaited Break in a Cold Case
The Swains, described as pillars of their community, were gunned down in their church in a crime that shocked the small coastal Georgia town. Harold Swain, a deacon, and his wife, Thelma, were approached by a man inside the church before being shot.
For decades, the case had remained unresolved, with Perry’s wrongful conviction overshadowing efforts to find the real perpetrator.
