Harold and Thelma Swain PHOTO COURTESY OF UNSOLVEDMYSTERIES.FANDOM.COM

Miami – Nearly 40 years after a Black Deacon and his wife were murdered in a Georgia church and a suspect was exonerated for the crime, a white man was charged with the double murder.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced the arrest of 61year-old Erik Sparre, who was charged with felony murder and aggravated assault for the murder of Harold and Thelma Swain in Waverly, Georgia in March 1985.

In a case that was featured on Unsolved Mysteries in 1988, the GBI and law enforcement officials in Waverly believed the murder was racially motivated.

Sparre, who was arrested in Waynesville, Georgia on December 11, was among the suspects in the murder but he had an alibi, working that night in a supermarket.

Dennis Perry was also a suspect in the case and was arrested and convicted and sentenced to life in prison nearly 15 years after the murder.

Law enforcement long suspected Perry since witnesses came forward and said he had a grudge against Harold Swain.

Perry, a white man, served 20 years in prison when DNA evidence exonerated him, and he was ordered a new trial in 2020.

A new investigation was launched which focused on another suspect, Sparre, who was 22 years-old at the time of the Swains’ murder.

According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, law enforcement officials revisited Sparre’s alibi and discovered he was not working on the night of the double murder.

In addition, attorneys for the Georgia Innocence Project tested DNA from hair found in the hinge of a pair of eyeglasses left next to the victims’ bodies, which matched Sparre.

Furthermore, Sparre’s ex-wife, Emily Head, told police Sparre confessed to the murders in a phone message that was allegedly recorded and noted that jurors in Perry’s conviction were never told a key witness was paid $12,000 before testifying, according to reports.

In March 1985, Harold and Thelma Swain held their weekly bible study class at Rising Daughter Baptist Church when one of the attendees, who was leaving, encountered a suspicious white male in the church’s foyer.

He asked to speak to Harold Swain.

A struggle ensued and Swain was shot four times, and his wife was shot after she came to his aid.

The eight women in the class ran and locked themselves in one of the church’s offices and tried to call the police but the phone lines had been cut.

That’s when police discovered the murders were premeditated.

Searching for suspects, law enforcement got its break in the case four months after the murder when the police in Telfair County, Georgia pulled over a car for a traffic infraction.

During a search, the police discovered two semi-automatic machine guns in the truck and took the three men into custody.

One of them, Donnie Barrentine, police later learned bragged about killing a Black preacher and his wife inside of a church.

When the Georgia Bureau Investigation interrogated Barrington, he admitted he made the comments, but he lied.

The Black woman who encountered the strange white man in the church’s foyer was brought to Telfair County to see if she could identify Barrington in a line up.

However, she couldn’t make a positive identification.

Perry told the Georgia Innocence Project, which helped get him a new trial, in 2021 that he never gave up hope while incarcerated and knew one day he would be exonerated.

“It took a long time, but I never gave up,” Perry said. “This indictment has been hanging over my head for over 20 years, and it’s such a relief to finally not have to worry about being accused of this awful thing.”

In an interview with The Atlanta Constitution Journal after his release from prison, Perry denied reports he had a grudge against Harold Swain.