DNA Tests May Exonerate Convicted Man

The conviction of a man who maintained his innocence for the murder of a young woman may have been a mistake.

With DNA testing, the truth about the murder of restaurant manager Noreen Malloy may be revealed.

In 1988, Ms. Malloy was leaving a McDonalds restaurant with other employees when she was murdered. The only witnesses to this homicide were Jerome Wilson and Gary Starr, two workers unloading a truck during a night shift for the restaurant. Mr. Wilson stated in a police report that he saw the assailant from three feet away.

Mr. Wilson then had trouble remembering the details of the assailant, often offering contradictory explanations of what happened and how. Later, he identified Drew Whitley, a man who claimed he was home alone during the night of the murder. Police then charged him with the crime of murder.

Drew Whitley has served 18 of the life sentence that a judge ordered him to serve for murder. He was convicted on the word of two witnesses and the expert opinion that the hairs found on a stocking mask matched his. All the while, Mr. Whitley maintained that he was innocent and repeatedly tried to prove that he did not commit this crime.

Recently, though, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. received a report that may change the fate of Whitley.

The report states that the DNA found in hairs from the stocking mask worn by the killer did not match Mr. Whitley’s.

Now it is up to the courts to decide whether to order a new trial for Mr. Whitley, set him free, or make him serve out his life sentence.

Mr. Whitley’s lawyer plans on requesting that all charges be dropped against his client or that he get a new trial.