DALLAS (AP) - A judge has ordered DNA testing on a strand of hair that was the only physical evidence linking an executed inmate to the murder that sent him to the Texas death chamber.
Judge Paul C. Murphy's order will lead to testing of a 1-inch-long strand that helped prosecutors convict Claude Jones of capital murder in the 1989 shooting death of 37-year-old liquor store owner Allen Hilzendager in San Jacinto County. Jones, who maintained his innocence, was executed in 2000.
An expert in hair analysis linked the hair to Jones at his trial. The other primary evidence was testimony from an accomplice, who later acknowledged in an affidavit that he had no firsthand knowledge of the killing.
Murphy, a retired appellate judge assigned to the case, ruled Friday.
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