The Jane Anker Hylton Case: A Tale of Justice, Injustice, and DNA Exoneration
In the quiet suburb of Sacramento, California, on a fateful night in July 1978, Jane Anker Hylton, a 30-year-old mother of three, was brutally murdered. The heinous crime not only devastated her family but also sparked a decades-long saga that would eventually highlight both the fallibility and the power of the justice system. This is a story of a wrongful conviction, a determined quest for the truth, and the ultimate role of DNA evidence in righting a grievous wrong.
The Crime
Jane Anker Hylton was found dead in her home, having been stabbed multiple times. The community was horrified, and the police were under immense pressure to solve the case quickly. Suspicion soon fell on Ricky Davis, who lived with Hylton's daughter and was known to have been in the house the night of the murder. Davis, along with his girlfriend, Connie Dahl, were arrested and charged with Hylton's murder.
The Wrongful Conviction
In 1985, Ricky Davis was convicted of the murder based largely on the testimony of his girlfriend, who had struck a plea deal. Dahl testified that Davis had confessed to the crime, a claim Davis vehemently denied. Despite the lack of physical evidence directly linking Davis to the murder, he was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison.
For years, Davis maintained his innocence, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. It wasn't until decades later, with advances in DNA technology, that the possibility of exoneration emerged.
The Role of DNA Evidence
In the early 2000s, the Northern California Innocence Project took up Davis's case. They pushed for the re-examination of the evidence using modern DNA testing methods that were not available at the time of the original trial. In 2019, the breakthrough finally came. DNA testing on the evidence from the crime scene revealed the presence of an unknown male profile that did not match Davis or any other suspects initially considered by the police.
With this new evidence, the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office agreed to re-investigate the case. In 2020, after serving over 14 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, Ricky Davis was exonerated and released.
The Real Killer
The DNA evidence not only exonerated Davis but also pointed to a new suspect. The DNA profile matched Michael Green, a man with a history of violent crimes. Green had never been considered a suspect in the original investigation but had lived in the area at the time of the murder. Further investigation revealed that Green had a history of sexual assault and had been convicted of multiple crimes over the years.
In 2020, Michael Green was arrested and charged with the murder of Jane Anker Hylton. He later pleaded guilty, bringing a long-overdue sense of justice and closure to Hylton's family.
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Sources used for this podcast
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Citations:
Photos and Film Clips used in YouTube
Grey's Anatomy | S11 E3 Gotta be Real | ABC
Yellowstone | S1 E2 Kill the Messenger | Paramount Network
Ferris Bueller's Day Off | 1986 | Paramount Pictures, United International Pictures
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