Innocent man freed after seven years

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(CBS) In June of 1998 outside Akron, Ohio, 58-year-old Judith Johnson and her 6-year-old granddaughter were brutally attacked. Judith was murdered and the little girl survived as the only witness. The man convicted of the crime was Clarence Elkins, Judith's son-in-law and the girl's uncle.

But as CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers reports, the Elkins family always maintained Clarence was innocent, and for good reason.

Seven and a half years ago, Melinda Elkins' world came to a stop

“In one sentence I was given the news that my mother had been murdered, and my niece was attacked and Clarence was now being accused,” she says.

Clarence, Melinda's husband, was convicted of that horrible murder.

“I did not do this crime. I'm totally and completely innocent,” he said three years ago, speaking to CBS News for a report on 48 Hours.

With no physical evidence linking Elkins to the crime scene, it was the testimony of Melinda's 6-year-old niece, Brooke Sutton, that convinced the jury.

But three years later, Brooke recanted. With a new videotaped deposition from the star witness, Elkins' lawyers hoped to re-open the case. But even so, a judge ruled against their request for a new trial

Melinda developed a new plan to free her husband, trying to solve the crime herself.

“I knew that nobody else was taking the time. I was put in that position to come up with a way to solve this,” she says.

Melinda's desperate search for answers kept bringing her to a house just two doors from where her mother was murdered. It was the house Brooke ran to looking for help.

“When my niece went to the neighbor's house, the police was not called, an ambulance was not called, and she did not allow her to come in the house,” says Melinda Elkins.

Brooke, now 14, remembers going to her grandmother's neighbor, Tonia Brasiel, for help

“She didn't let me in the house so I was standing out there half an hour or something like that and then she finally came out and took me home,” Brooke says.

It wasn't until much later Melinda learned that another person had lived at that house: Earl Mann, now a convicted child rapist who just happened to be serving time at the same prison as Clarence. He became Melinda's new lead suspect.

“I had sent some letters to Earl Mann under a fictitious name as a pen pal, hoping he would write back to me. I had even included the envelopes,” she says.

Melinda hoped Mann would lick the envelope, providing a DNA sample. But he never wrote back.

Instead, Clarence managed to get the DNA from inside the prison. He picked up a cigarette butt Mann put down and mailed it to his lawyer for testing.

Mann's DNA came back as a match for evidence found at the crime scene.

Ohio's Attorney General Jim Petro, an official who usually locks people up, took up the cause to release Clarence Elkins.

“If this DNA evidence that we have today would have been presented at the time of the conviction, I cannot conceive of the jury finding Clarence Elkins guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” Petro said during a press conference.

Last week, after seven and a half years behind bars, Clarence Elkins walked out of prison a free man, with all charges against him dropped.

Clarence would rather not talk about his time behind bars, but can't say enough about his wife's never ending battle to clear his name.

"Words, I don't believe, can express the gratitude I have for my wife and the love I have for her,” he says.

As for Melinda, whose new crusade is to see Earl Mann convicted for her mother's murder, victory may finally bring some peace.

“When he walked out there, and he put his hands up like in triumph, it was the most amazing moment. It just absolutely felt like a relief,” Melinda says with a big sigh. “He's out of there. He's out of there.”

Earl Mann is already serving time for a previous conviction. Authorities are now considering whether to reopen the murder case.

This is a big reason why I will never support the death penalty. How many of us have such tenacious spouces or others in our lives who would go to such lengths to prove us innocent? Some of us, maybe. But there are a hell of alot of people who wouldn't have that support and would rot in jaill, only to be put to death for a crime not committed.

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