Man convicted of 1994 murder and rape of teenager freed by new DNA evidence after 16 years

Robert Dewey was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1996

19-year-old Jacie Taylor was found dead in her bathtub in June 1994

New testing lead to arrest warrant for Douglas Thames



The 33-year-old Robert Dewey after he was arrested in 1995



A Colorado man who was jailed for life for killing a teenager almost two decades ago will walk free after being cleared by fresh DNA evidence.



Robert 'Rider' Dewey was 33 when he went to prison for the 1994 rape and murder of 19-year-old Jacie Taylor.



The 51-year-old was freed yesterday, after new testing of DNA evidence pointed to someone else as the suspect.

At a court hearing yesterday, a judge dismissed charges against Dewey and declared him a free man. Dewey flashed a small smile through his trim beard.

He told reporters he just wants to kick back, ride his motorcycle and spend time with his family.

'Contrary to popular belief, the world doesn't stop when you go to prison,' said Dewey, wearing glasses and with his hair in two long braids. 'There's a lot for me to catch up on.'

Dewey was sentenced in 1996 to life in prison without parole after he was convicted of killing Taylor, who was found dead in her bathtub in Palisade on 4 June, 1994.

DNA technology at the time gave jurors conflicting information to consider, according to news accounts at the time. At his sentencing hearing, Dewey had said there was still a killer out there.

The Colorado Attorney General's Office's Justice Review Project, which reviews cases where post-conviction DNA testing could clear a person, took up Dewey's case last year.

The advanced DNA tests that cleared Dewey have led to an arrest warrant being issued for Douglas Thames, who is accused of first-degree murder and first-degree sexual assault.

Thames had lived near Taylor, and his DNA profile is linked to evidence found in Taylor's apartment.

Thames told investigators in a prison interview that he didn't know Taylor but that his girlfriend at the time had gone to classes with Taylor at Palisade High School.



Thames is already serving a life sentence for a 1989 murder in Fort Collins.

On Monday, Dewey thanked his legal team and said DNA evidence should be reviewed in more old cases, noting inmates around the country have been freed by new testing.

'Who else is out there?' Dewey said.

Dewey said he tried to stay positive while behind bars. 'It threw me into a dark tunnel,' he said of his conviction. His first two years in prison, he didn't make his bed.

Now, he is trying to understand why people text each other on their phones instead of just talking and where he might find work as he starts over.

'There's going to be trials and tribulations out here too,' Dewey said.