Slovers win ruling for new DNA testing

DECATUR Nearly 12 years after the Slovers were convicted of first-degree murder for shooting to death 23-year-old Karyn Hearn Slover, a judge ruled that items that were originally tested for fingerprints should also be tested for DNA evidence, including a partially eaten candy bar and a bag of french fries.

Michael Slover Jr., 44, Karyn's former husband, and his parents, Michael Slover Sr., 68, and Jeannette Slover, 66, are serving lengthy prison sentences for the 1996 murder. Jeannette Slover was sentenced to 60 years; Michael Slover Sr. and Michael Slover Jr. were each sentenced to 65 years.

Their trial was highly publicized, and the case was the subject of two TV documentaries.

The basis of the ruling, released Tuesday by Macon County Associate Judge Timothy Steadman, is that the DNA testing techniques in use today were not available at the time of the investigation.

Most of the items in question were not previously subjected to DNA testing, Steadman wrote, adding that the testing requested may significantly advance a claim of actual innocence.

The Slovers have always maintained their innocence. The Illinois Innocence Project, based at the University of Illinois at Springfield, has been working to gain a new trial for the Slovers since shortly after their conviction.

Prosecutors and law enforcement officers who put in thousands of hours to obtain a conviction during a six-year period have steadfastly maintained that they successfully brought to justice the right people.

Huma Nasir, a DNA expert who testified for the Slovers at an April 28 hearing, said it would be highly likely to develop DNA profiles from items including: a straw located inside the vehicle Karyn Slover was driving the night of her murder, other food items found in the car, duct tape pieces used to seal large plastic bags containing her body parts, human hairs found on duct tape and inside the plastic bags.

Some of the items were previously tested for DNA. Nasir testified that DNA testing techniques developed since the Slover trial have improved, including mini-filer testing, which can detect microscopic DNA from material that may have degraded.

J. Steven Beckett, an Innocence Project lawyer, wrote in the petition for forensic testing that a positive result has the potential to identify an unknown suspect and would completely exclude the Slovers.

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Slovers win ruling for new DNA testing