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Judge allows more DNA tests in 34-year-old killing in Maine

4 years ago in Local

Judge allows more DNA tests in 34-year-old killing in Maine

Photo: clipart.com


PORTLAND, Maine (AP) A judge has granted a request for additional DNA tests by a man convicted of killing a 12-year-old girl more than three decades ago.

Dennis Dechaine is serving a life sentence for the murder and sexual assault of Sarah Cherry, who was abducted while babysitting in Bowdoin. Her body was found two days after she disappeared in July 1988.

But Dechaine has maintained his innocence, and his defense attorneys have continued filing appeals and requests for more DNA tests.

A state judge on Friday granted a defense request for additional DNA testing. The defense contends a newer technology can be used to collect DNA from fabrics that could’ve been missed previously.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has denied three requests for a new trial. In the latest, in 2015, the court concluded new DNA evidence wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the original trial.

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