DNA evidence from Greg Hampikian’s laboratory at Boise State recently helped overturn the 1995 Montana convictions of two men, Fred Lawrence and Paul Jenkins. They were serving life sentences for robbery, kidnapping and homicide in the 1994 death of Donna Meagher.
Hampikian, director of the Idaho Innocence Project, had been working with the Montana Innocence Project on the case since 2014.
Testing of items from the crime scene, including rope with Meagher’s blood on it, linked another man, David Nelson, to the crime. Montana courts will decide whether to re-try Lawrence and Jenkins, or proceed with a case against Nelson.
Larry Mansch, legal director of the Montana Innocence Project said, “I particularly commend Dr. Greg Hampikian of the Idaho Innocence Project, who provided critical testimony and analysis regarding the DNA evidence.”
Read more about the case online.