A man convicted of fatally stabbing a Bedford woman nearly 20 years ago was released from prison Tuesday morning based on new evidence.
John Nolley, now 42 years old, was found guilty of murder in 1998 for the 1996 death of Sharon McLane of Bedford. New evidence points to his innocence in the incident, according to the Innocence Project's Cory Session.
District Attorney Sharen Wilson's Conviction Integrity Unit, the Innocence Project and Fort Worth attorney Reagan Wynn reinvestigated the case and found new evidence that revealed Nolley was not the source of a bloody palm print found on a piece of paper recovered from McLane's body.
The CIU also discovered evidence that discredited the testimony of two informants — both facing criminal charges at the time — who contributed to the conviction.
"We are incredibly grateful to District Attorney Sharen Wilson and her conviction integrity unit," the Innocence Project's Nina Morrison said. "It is because of the Unit’s commitment to seeking the truth that Mr. Nolley’s conviction was reversed today."
McLane was found stabbed to death in her home Dec. 14, 1996. Evidence suggested she was killed sometime after work three days earlier. That evening, authorities said Nolley — who was friends with McLane — drank beer and smoked marijuana with her at her home.
On Dec. 12, a married couple who lived in McLane's apartment complex heard a woman's “blood-curdling screams” just after 3 p.m. Nolley was at work at the time.
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Police suspected Nolley because he had called a friend’s pager from McLane’s phone and was not initially forthcoming about seeing her Dec. 11.
Nolley was charged and convicted despite no physical evidence linking him to the crime, according to a statement released by the Innocence Project. His conviction was mostly based on the testimony of two witnesses.
“False informant testimony has contributed to nearly 15 percent of the 341 DNA exonerations, yet there are very few policies in place around the nation to make this deeply flawed evidence more reliable,” the Innocence Project co-director Barry Scheck said.
In Tuesday's hearing, Tarrant County District Judge Louis Sturns recommended that Nolley’s convictions be overturned based on the hand print evidence and information regarding the witnesses who testified.
Nolley hasn't yet been exonerated for the murder. His case will now go before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for review.
"It's just overwhelming," Nolley said. "Too many emotions to focus on."
His family members present included his sister, a nurse in Tarrant County; his two grown sons, who were toddlers when he went to prison; and two grandchildren.
"The love of Christ lives in me, compels me to love and understand the position the state was in back then," Nolley said.
District Attorney Sharen Wilson released the following statement:
"This is a good example of exactly what we set out to do with our Conviction Integrity Unit. This case is not an exoneration. It is an example of how both changes in forensic technology and flaws in the process can lead to the potential for different conclusions with the passage of time.
"It has been our goal with the CIU that should we discover any errors, we be committed to finding a solution to prevent future occurrences. To prevent a reoccurrence of this issue, we are creating a detailed new policy on the use of jailhouse informants."
NBC 5's Chris Van Horne contributed to this report.
