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Accompanying story: The evolution of DNA testing in Nebraska
Saturday, May 9, 2009 12:00 am
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Part five: Threat of death
Thursday, May 7, 2009 12:00 am
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Accompanying story: The curious case of Debra Shelden
Sunday, May 10, 2009 12:00 am
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Accompanying story: Expert: Authorities ran Beatrice case off tracks
Sunday, May 10, 2009 12:00 am
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Part one: Murder in Apartment 4
Monday, May 4, 2009 12:00 am
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Accompanying story: Interrogations can induce false confessions
Thursday, May 7, 2009 12:00 am
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Part seven: DNA changes everything
Monday, May 11, 2009 12:00 am
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Accompanying story: Court-appointed lawyers faced steep uphill battle
Thursday, May 7, 2009 12:00 am
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Accompanying story: Best practices reduce wrongful convictions
Sunday, May 10, 2009 12:00 am
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Accompanying story: The evolution of DNA testing in Nebraska
The evidence that would exonerate Joseph White and five others convicted in the 1985 murder and rape of Helen Wilson was preserved in the basement of the Beatrice Police Department for more than 20 years. The 2001 Nebraska DNA Testing Act cleared the way for White to get approval for the tests that cleared their names. ( ROBERT BECKER/Lincoln Journal Star)
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RB09022601
Former Gage County Attorney Richard Smith prosecuted the Helen Wilson homicide and says he has no regrets. (ROBERT BECKER / Lincoln Journal Star)
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Burdette Searcey is a reserve deputy for the Gage County Sheriff's office in Beatrice. In the 1980s, Searcey investigated the Helen Wilson homicide. Searcey and other interrogators lied to suspects in the case, claiming there was physical evidence that put them at the scene of the crime. (ROBERT BECKER / Lincoln Journal Star)
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Ada JoAnn Taylor is seen being interrogated by Beatrice Police Department Detective Sam Stevens in a screen shot pulled from an interrogation video made on March 16, 1989, in Ashville, North Carolina. (Nebraska Attorney General)
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Former state Sen. Ernie Chambers (left) speaks with Debra and Clifford Shelden at a Jan. 26 reception hosted by the Innocence Project. (GWYNETH ROBERTS/Lincoln Journal Star)
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Helen Wilson is buried next to her husband, Ray, in Pleasant View Cemetery near Pickrell. Her rape and murder in Beatrice in 1985 led to six people spending a combined 70 years in prison for a crime that DNA evidence years later would show they did not commit. (ROBERT BECKER / Lincoln Journal Star)
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HELEN WILSON EVIDENCE PHOTO
Investigators tried to tie a piece torn off a $5 bill (left) found on the floor of Helen Wilson's kitchen to murder suspect Joseph White. (Courtesy of Nebraska Attorney General)
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HELEN WILSON EVIDENCE PHOTO
This evidence photo shows half a pot of coffee left in Helen Wilson's apartment. (Courtesy of Nebraska Attorney General)
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Part seven: DNA changes everything
The evidence that would exonerate Joseph White and five others convicted in the 1985 murder and rape of Helen Wilson was preserved in the basement of the Beatrice Police Department for more than 20 years. The 2001 Nebraska DNA Testing Act cleared the way for White to get approval for the tests that cleared their names. (ROBERT BECKER/Lincoln Journal Star)
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gr08111401.jpg
Ada JoAnn Taylor is seen being interrogated by Beatrice Police Department Detective Sam Stevens in a screen shot pulled from an interrogation video made on March 16, 1989, in Ashville, North Carolina. (Nebraska Attorney General Office)
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