Judge hears arguments as Paul Garrett attempts to clear his name of 2000 murder
DNA evidence points to wrongful conviction in 2000 murder case.
and last updated 2021-07-22 21:55:25-04
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) â After years behind bars, Paul Shane Garrett could once and for all have his name cleared for a murder he says he didnât commit.
Garrett pleaded guilty to the voluntary manslaughter of Velma Tharpe in 2000, but has maintained that he did not kill Tharpe. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents now say DNA evidence points to a Calvin Atchison, who was arrested in May.
We never saw much emotion from Garrett, during Thursday s hearing, other than one moment where it appeared as if he couldnât believe he had come this far. He was released from prison in 2011, around the same time TBI agent Laura Boos received more evidence from Tharpeâs case.
Former D A Torry Johnson on Hindsight and the Paul Garrett Case nashvillescene.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nashvillescene.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Victimization of Velma Tharpe and Paul Garrett A decade after Garrett completed a prison sentence for Tharpeâs killing, another man is charged with the murder Tweet Share
In late 2004, a little more than a year after a Nashville man named Paul Garrett was sent to prison for the killing of a sex worker named Velma Tharpe, police and prosecutors received a piece of information that should have set off alarms. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation had run a DNA sample taken from Tharpeâs stomach and vaginal area and run it through the national Combined DNA Index System. They found a match, but it wasnât Paul Garrett: The DNA was from a Nashville man named Calvin Atchison. But this revelation led to little more than a yellow sticky note in a prosecutorsâ case file. The note read, âSomeone should look into this.âÂ
Metro Police Cold Case Detective Mike Roland pushed for years to bring the right man to justice after another man pled guilty and served time for killing a prostitute in North Nashville.
Metro Nashville Police Believe Subject Previously Convicted in 2000 Murder Case is INNOCENT May 26, 2021 at 02:16 pm by WGNS
A murder case in Nashville is receiving a lot of attention after the Metro Police Department released new information that the man who was originally convicted in the victims death maybe innocent.
On Tuesday (05/25/2021), Metro - Nashville Cold Case detectives arrested 51-year-old Calvin Atchison II on a grand jury indictment charging him with first-degree murder. Atchison was arrested for the June 2000 murder of 30-year-old Velma Tharpe, who died from strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head and neck.
According to the Metro Police Department, they beleive the person who was formerly convicted in Tharpe s death is innocent.