Friday, June 29, 2007

Mann's the Man

So prosecutors made it official today. Earl Mann is now accused of murder. He's the guy with the cigarette butt whose DNA cleared Clarence Elkins of a life sentence for killing his wife's (no ex-wife's) mother. For those of you keeping score at home, this is what I hinted about a few days ago.

Mann will be returned to Summit County from jail to be arraigned on the new charges. I haven't yet spoken to Clarence, but I'm wondering if he'll attend the proceedings. I'm wondering if he'll want to be there to look into the eyes of the man that changed his world forever. Wouldn't you want to be there? I think the two men locking eyes could be the bigger story of the court hearings.

Still, maybe Elkins has been robbed of so much of his life that he won't waste another second on crime. Maybe he's not ready to let this my-name-is-Earl create any more bad thoughts in his head.

Regardless, this story is headed for the big screen, or at least the small one. First, how a man can be convicted of a murder he didn't commit and then be sentenced to life in prison is beyond what my senses could truly process. Second, how that man can think clearly enough to do his own investigation and then seize evidence (a cigarette butt) from behind prison walls that eventually clears him. I don't think my words can truly describe how amazing that is.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't know if you were here when my husband was fired from the SC Coroner's office. The real reason he was let go was because he had warned the then coroner that performing autopsies for hire and using the SC office personnel to provide reports of those constituted theft in office. Regardless, he was terminated. Years later, he was vindicated when we were in the gallery of the court that convicted the coroner of theft in office. What goes around, comes around. Karma exists.

Anonymous said...

Eric, I know that there has been quite a bit of very important news this weekend but please revisit this story again. I would love to see an interview with Clarence Elkins. Maybe someday the prosecutors & investigators will talk too (probably not until after the trial).

Donna McDaniel said...

I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW HOW CLARENCE IS DOING TODAY AND WHAT ==EXACTLY HE IS DOING WITH HIS TIME. IS HE WORKING, IS HE REMARRIED, IS HE IN LOVE, IS HE DOING OK? WISH THERE WAS SOME WAY U COULD PUT ME IN TOUCH WITH HIM. MAYBE U COULD LEAVE MY EMAIL ADDRESS WITH HIM. MY HEART GOES OUT TO HIM AND I THINK OF HIM OFTEN. IS HE STILL LIVING IN MAGNOLIA? SHAME HE IS NOT MARRIED TO MELINDA ANYMORE. I ALWAYS THOUGHT HE WAS SO KIND, HANDSOME AND OF COURSE INNOCENT!

SINCERELY,
DONNA MACDANIEL