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Georgia man arrested in 1985 church murders of Black couple after original suspect spent 2 decades in prison
A southeast Georgia man was arrested and charged in the 1985 killing of a couple at a Black church after the original suspect — who spent 20 years behind bars — was exonerated on DNA evidence, authorities said.
Erik Kristensen Sparre, 61, was jailed on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault in the killings of Harold and Thelma Swain, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a news release Monday. Sparre was arrested nearly four decades after the couple was fatally shot inside Rising Daughter Baptist Church in coastal Camden County.
Sparre became the focus of a renewed investigation into the Swains’ deaths after authorities concluded they had initially prosecuted the wrong man.
Dennis Perry was sentenced to life in prison when a jury convicted him in 2003 of murdering the Swains. He spent two decades in prison before a Superior Court judge ordered a retrial in 2020. The judge dismissed all charges against Perry in 2021 after prosecutors asked to drop the case.
Georgia Innocence Project
Investigators and the courts took a fresh look at the case after attorneys for the Georgia Innocence Project tested DNA from hairs found in the hinge of a pair of eyeglasses left next to the victims’ bodies. They said the DNA matched Sparre, who had once been considered a suspect, and not Perry.
Meanwhile, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Sparre’s alibi that he was working at a grocery story when the killings occurred, could not be true. The newspaper also raised doubts about Perry’s conviction, noting that jurors were never told a key witness was paid a $12,000 reward before testifying.
Sparre’s ex-wife, Emily Head, told police in 1986 that he had confessed to the murders in a phone message that her family recorded, the newspaper previously reported.
The GBI said Sparre was arrested in Waynesville, where he lives, about 90 miles southwest of Savannah, Georgia, and booked at the Camden County jail. According to jail records, he was charged with two counts of murder and two counts of aggravated assault.
Sparre has previously denied killing the Swains. A phone number listed for Sparre wasn’t working Tuesday and it was not immediately known if he had an attorney to represent him.
Since his release from prison, the original suspect, Perry, has been spending time with this wife and reconnecting with family and friends, according to the Georgia Innocence Project.
“It took a long time, but I never gave up,” Perry told the organization after his exoneration in 2021. “This indictment has been hanging over my head for over 20 years, and it’s such a relief to finally not have to worry about being accused of this awful thing.”
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Dua Lipa on performing in Royal Albert Hall with Elton John and reuniting with her childhood music teacher
Pop superstar Dua Lipa is having a very big year.
Her third album, “Radical Optimism,” went to No. 1 in 11 countries, she kicked off a world tour, and headlined the Glastonbury Festival. Now, we are getting “An Evening with Dua Lipa,” a special concert that reimagines all of her hit songs performed with a 53-piece orchestra at London’s iconic Royal Albert Hall. The performance will air Sunday night on CBS and Paramount+.
“It was always on the top of my list of places that I’ve been dreaming to perform in. And I just love, you know, the theater element of the venue and how grand it is, but also very intimate,” she told “CBS Mornings” on Thursday.
She shared that performing in smaller, more intimate settings allowed her to connect more personally with the audience and engage with her music on a deeper level, something she had missed while focusing on larger shows.
Performing with the orchestra was a transformative experience for her.
“It completely helps you reimagine everything. You hear the lyrics differently, you feel the music differently. And for me in particular, it was incredibly emotional hearing my songs reimagined in that way, and then standing in the middle around 53 incredible musicians just—it’s like it’s riveting, like it moves you in such a different way. And I feel like everyone in the audience felt it. It was such a joyous moment in the room,” said Lipa.
The performance features a surprise duet with Elton John, a moment Lipa called a bucket list experience.
“I’ve listened to Elton’s music my whole life, and to have someone like Elton be a friend and be somebody who supported me from the very beginning of my career to, you know, championing me and being by my side and then showing up for me in this capacity,” she said.
The special also includes an emotional reunion with Lipa’s childhood music teacher, Ray, whom she credited with changing her life. Dua Lipa said she hadn’t seen him in 10 years.
“You know, teachers are so incredibly important, and a good teacher can really change the trajectory of a child’s life, really. And Ray, for me, changed my life. He made me believe that I could do it. He told me that I had something special worth looking … to dig a little deeper,” she said.
Reflecting on the concert, Dua Lipa added:
“When it’s closer to the music, it’s really where I feel like I’m supposed to be. You know, the live instruments is really what moves me. And I don’t know, I found the performance in itself exciting, but then also really inspiring for, I don’t know, new things.”
“An Evening with Dua Lipa” airs this Sunday at 8:30 p.m. EST on CBS and streams on Paramount+.
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