After 16 years on death row, Darnell Williams was 3 days from exe­cu­tion when then Governor Frank O’Bannon issued a reprieve to allow the genet­ic test­ing of droplets of blood found on Williams’ shorts after the shoot­ing. Recently released test results sup­port Williams’ claim that he was­n’t present when a Gary, Indiana cou­ple was fatal­ly shot 17 years ago. Thomas Vanes, the pros­e­cu­tor at Williams’ 1986 tri­al, now says that Williams should not be exe­cut­ed. He said, ​“I agree now that this is not a death penal­ty case.” (Indianapolis Star, December 13, 2003). See Innocence.

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