BRUNSWICK, Ga. – The trial for Erik Sparre, the man accused of killing a husband and wife in a Camden County church 40 years ago, ended in a mistrial on Wednesday, according to the Camden County Clerk’s office.
The trial started on Tuesday with testimonies, and, according to Georgia Public Information Liaison Don Plummer, the mistrial resulted from “the violation of a pretrial order restricting witnesses from testifying about information unrelated to the charges against Mr. Sparre.”
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Defense seeks to exclude racial references in trial of man accused in 1985 killing of couple in church | 61-year-old man arrested, accused of 1985 Camden County church murders | Timeline: The key events surrounding the 1985 double murder of a Southeast Georgia husband and wife
The mistrial marks another development in a case that began in 1985 with the murders of Harold and Thelma Swain inside the Rising Daughter Baptist Church in Camden County, involved a conviction that was later overturned, and continues to raise more questions than answers.
Here is a timeline of critical events that led up to Wednesday’s mistrial:
- March 11, 1985: Harold and Thelma Swain are shot and killed in their church. Witnesses describe a white man with blonde hair. Key evidence includes shell casings, shirt buttons, and glasses with hair.
- March 1986: Erik Sparre is brought into questioning after a recorded phone call was allegedly made that Sparre confessed, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was cleared after an alibi put him at work.
- 2000: Dennis Perry is arrested after a tip from his ex-girlfriend’s mother. Perry claims he has an alibi.
- February 2003: Perry is convicted despite his alibi, lack of need for glasses, and DNA evidence that did not match. Prosecutors did not disclose to the defense or jury that a witness was paid for their testimony.
- 2019: New DNA testing links evidence at the crime scene to Erik Sparre, specifically hair found on the glasses. The Georgia Innocence Project filed to overturn Perry’s conviction, but the district attorney delayed action by reopening the case.
- April 2020: An extraordinary motion for a new trial is filed for Perry, citing DNA evidence.
- July 2020: Perry’s conviction is overturned.
- July 23, 2020: Dennis Perry is released from prison.
- July 19, 2021: Dennis Perry is fully exonerated.
- Dec. 9, 2024: Erik Sparre is arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault in connection with the shooting death of the Swains.
According to The Brunswick News, the first day of trial began with a significant revelation when Sparre’s former brother-in-law testified that he had given a cassette recording to the Camden County Sheriff’s Office in 1987, which was allegedly made by Sparre.
Previous report on Erik Sparre can be watched on the video player below
The recording, which he said was made on March 7, 1986, revealed Sparre allegedly admitting that he was the person who “killed those people” before threatening to kill his former brother-in-law.
“I’ll killed them, and I’ll kill you next,” the voice on the recording said, Brunswick News reports.
The local media outlet reports that a former supervisor at a Winn-Dixie store in Brunswick also testified during Tuesday’s proceedings because, during the original investigation, Sparre provided the store as an alibi to investigators.
The alibi was never confirmed.
“It turned out Sparre gave a false name and phone number to investigators and they never followed up to confirm the person they spoke with on the phone was actually a store supervisor,” Gordon Jackson of the Brunswick News reported.