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On 3/3/85, Jerome
Henderson murdered his neighbor, 26-year-old Mary Acoff in her
Cincinnati apartment. Mary Acoff had fought her attacker and was beaten
and repeatedly stabbed before her nude body was found by her 10-year-old
daughter when she returned home.
Henderson broke into
Mary's apartment, attempted to rape her, stabbed and beat her multiple
times in the head, chest and neck and slashed her throat at least 13
times.
DNA testing, conducted
during federal appeals in 2003, identified Mary Acoff as the source of
blood, and Henderson as the source of semen, found on Henderson's coat
which was recovered from his residence three days after the crime.
Henderson's blood-stained shoes also matched prints at the scene of the
crime.
At the time of the
trial, the jury learned that, based on the scientific technology
available then, the semen found in Mary's body could have come from
Henderson or from Mary's boyfriend.
Henderson was acquitted
of rape, but convicted of attempted rape and all other counts he was
charged with.
Henderson claimed he
was innocent and wanted DNA tests when they became available years later,
but the tests revealed that while the semen inside Mary's body could not
have come from Henderson, the semen on Henderson's coat belonged to
Henderson and the blood on the coat belonged to Mary Acoff.
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