As prosecutors prepare for the trial of Erik Sparre, charged with the 1985 murders of Harold and Thelma Swain, a newly published book has revealed a chilling connection involving his son and a notorious Jacksonville murder case.

GBI searches home of man at center of overturned conviction in 1985 double murderPublished: August 6, 2020, 11:33 pmSearch warrant executed at Brantley County home of Erik Sparre and his mother, who was found dead in July.

WAYNESVILLE, Ga. – The Georgia Bureau of Investigation on Thursday executed a search warrant at the home of Erik Sparre and his mother, who was found dead last month. Dennis Perry was found guilty of those murders, but a judge overturned that conviction after the GBI reopened the case. Agents continue to work to determine what involvement Erik Sparre had in the Swain’s deaths. “That weekend, my brother was with me.”Despite DNA evidence, Erik Sparre has not been named a suspect in the Swain murders. The words that Head said he recalled were similar to those his family told police that Erik Sparre used in 1986.

BRUNSWICK, Ga. A man who has lived through what his attorney calls a 20-plus year nightmare may walk out the Coffee County Correctional Facility today. A judge decided Friday to grant a Georgia mans request for a new trial in the 1985 shooting deaths of a husband and wife. With a new trial, Dennis Perry has another shot at getting out of prison on bond. The 58-year-old Perry has been in prison for 20 years, but his attorneys asked for a new trial after DNA evidence emerged tying another suspect to the crime scene. Forensic examiner Gloria Dimick said Perrys DNA doesnt match the hair, but a sample from Sparres mother does match.

BRUNSWICK, Ga. A judge decided Friday to grant a Georgia mans request for a new trial in the 1985 shooting deaths of a husband and wife. The 58-year-old Perry has been in prison for 20 years, but his attorneys asked for a new trial after DNA evidence emerged tying another suspect to the crime scene. But Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett said in his order granting Perry a new trial that the DNA test linking Sparre to the scene would have resulted in a different verdict at Perrys 2003 trial. Dennis Perry was convicted of double murder eighteen years after the fact without any physical evidence connecting him to the crime scene, Scarlett wrote. Newly discovered DNA evidence links another suspect, one whose alibi for the night of the murders may have been fabricated, to the key piece of evidence recovered from the crime scene.

BRUNSWICK, Ga. A judge says he could decide by Friday whether a Georgia man should get a new trial in the 1985 shooting deaths of a husband and wife. But his attorneys are seeking a new trial after DNA evidence emerged tying another suspect to the crime scene. Perry was convicted in 2003 largely on the testimony of his ex-girlfriends mother, who said Perry had told her he planned to kill Harold Swain. Sparres second wife, Rhonda Tyson, testified that Sparre told her one day in the late 1980s that he killed the Swains. Instead, Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett must decide whether the DNA test linking Sparre to the scene would have resulted in a different verdict at Perrys 2003 trial.

In May, Perry’s attorneys filed an extraordinary motion for new trial based on new DNA evidence discovered in the case. Court documents show the new DNA evidence from the hairs excludes Dennis Perry and includes a man named Erik Sparre. “Dennis Perry, as well as all of his maternal relatives, would be excluded,” said Gloria Dimick, with Mitotyping Technologies. Often times, she has brought with her loved ones, including the couple’s grandchildren who call Dennis Perry “Papa Sunshine.”Loved ones have not been able to see Dennis Perry behind bars since March 11 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Last month, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles tentatively granted Dennis Perry clemency with a release date in September.

A hearing has been set for July to decide whether a man convicted in two Georgia murders will get a new trial.