Tuesday, December 23, 2003
DNA testing has produced charges against another man in the Darryl Hunt murder case, giving Forsyth County District Attorney Tom Keith and Winston-Salem police a new chance finally to bring closure to a troubling case that has split many blacks and whites. We hope they're successful, but Keith seems unwilling to enter this new phase of the case with an open mind.
Darryl Hunt, who is black, has spent 18 years of a life sentence in prison for the 1984 stabbing of Deborah Sykes, who was white, in downtown Winston-Salem. She was also raped, although Hunt was never charged with that crime. Two tests in the mid-1990s comparing Hunt's DNA with semen found in Sykes showed that the semen was not his.
New testing that compared the DNA from Sykes with a database of violent felons in North Carolina and nationwide produced the new suspect, 43-year-old Willard E. Brown, who also is black. Yesterday, Brown was charged with first-degree murder, first-degree rape, first-degree kidnapping and armed robbery in connection with Sykes' death.
Hunt's lawyer, Mark Rabil, was asking even before the charges were brought that his client be freed outright.
Keith, relying on the prosecution's belief that Hunt was one of three people involved in the murder, said over the weekend that the case against Hunt is all but closed. Hunt's supporters, who say there's no connection between Hunt and Brown, were furious.
Hunt's backers have charged that Keith wants to retain control of a case that he and his predecessors have already bungled.
A series on the case in the Journal last month detailed problems, including mistakes and questionable witnesses with changing stories. For example, Brown was briefly considered soon after Sykes' murder, but investigators ruled him out after relying on incorrect paperwork that showed he was in prison at the time she was killed.
Hunt's backers are calling for an outside agency, presumably the State Bureau of Investigation, to take over the investigation of the case from Keith and city police. Their call is not without merit. The SBI is already involved, however, and both that agency and local investigators showed due diligence in finding this new defendant. Keith, however, must smooth out his handling of the case. He and the investigators need to open their minds and keep their focus on finding the truth, something that has been elusive in this frustrating, complex case.
Hunt's detractors have always said that the DNA tests that prove Hunt didn't rape Sykes do nothing to disprove that he killed her. Anyway, police and prosecutors have long contended, he acted with two other men in the crime. Perhaps he did.
But the new DNA testing has produced charges against a person not mentioned before, at least not publicly, and that revelation brings into question the state's whole theory of the case.
Brown should be able to tell investigators whether Hunt was involved.
He should be interviewed in a spirit of finding the truth, instead of being pressured to confirm old theories on the case.
As we have said here before, it's crucial that the truth be found. It's crucial for Sykes' survivors, who must want to put this case behind them. It's crucial for Hunt, who has contended from the start that he didn't kill Sykes. And it's crucial for this community, long overdue a healing from this divisive case.