A Suffolk County Superior Court judge has vacated the double murder convictions stemming from the 1992 slaying of two brothers after prosecutors argued the man sentenced to life in prison for the crimes was not the killer.

Recently discovered evidence suggests Ronald D. Qualls, who was convicted twice for the murders of brothers Roosevelt “Tony” Price and Ronald “Dallas” Price, was not the suspect who shot the two men in Roxbury over 25 years ago, The Boston Globe reports.

Prosecutors and the Boston College Innocence Program submitted a joint motion arguing the information is enough to void the convictions, according to the newspaper.


“The only issue at trial was the gunman’s identity,” the filing says. “Before he died, (Roosevelt Price) told multiple police officers that the shooter was a man named Junior Williams.”

Both Qualls and Williams had reportedly argued with the Price brothers before the shootings. But Williams was later released by police after authorities confiscated the sweatshirt he was wearing that contained what detectives believed were blood stains, the Globe reports.

The case against Qualls depended on “identifications by eyewitnesses who had lengthy criminal records and pending cases,” the motion says.

Testing in 1992 showed the blood on the sweatshirt was type B, the newspaper reports. Both Williams and the Price brothers had type B blood.

Additional testing later showed, however, that the “multiple drops of blood on Junior Williams’ sweatshirt contain a major DNA profile that matches Roosevelt ‘Tony’ Price … the only plausible explanation for how Tony’s blood landed on Williams’ sweatshirt was if Williams was standing in close proximity to Tony during the shooting,” according to the motion.

“A jury that heard scientific proof that Tony Price’s DNA was on Junior Williams’ sweatshirt would likely credit Tony’s dying declaration that Junior Williams shot him.”

Qualls’ convictions were vacated by the Supreme Judicial Court in 1997 but he was later re-tried and convicted a second time, and that ruling was upheld by the Supreme Judicial Court in 2003, according to the Globe. Qualls, sentenced to prison for life, has been in custody since at least November 1992.


Williams meanwhile was charged with being an accessory to manslaughter. He served six years in prison and was released.

Judge Christine M. Roach vacated Qualls’ convictions but stopped short of granting him release from MCI-Concord, and did not provide a written explanation, the Globe reports. Qualls has said he wants to move out of state, should he be released.

“We’re thrilled for Mr. Qualls,” Sharon Beckman, director of the Boston College Innocence Program told the newspaper. She said the program could not comment further because the case remains ongoing.