As Buddy Woodall and David Wimberly waited in jail for their day in court, Dennis Perry stood trial in February 2003. His trial was moved from Camden County to Glynn County on the theory that the citizens of Camden County knew too much about the cold case killings of Harold and Thelma Swain in the vestibule of their church the night of March 11, 1985.
By the time Perry’s trial began, evidence in the case had disappeared. The unusual prescription eyeglasses left in the church vestibule were gone as were two empty Pepsi bottles that might have been tossed out by the killer. Also gone was evidence that showed in the 1980s investigators considered Perry a possible suspect until they checked into his whereabouts the night of the murders and realized it would have been impossible for Perry to get to Camden County from his Atlanta area home in time to kill the Swains.
MORE: Brunswick Judicial District builds case against Buddy Woodall for double homicide
Golden Isles Injustice
Part 5
But Perry sort of looked like the composite drawing of the suspect. The sketch artist based the sketch on what four witness described. However, the witnesses’ description varied – two said he had a mustache, others that he was clean shaven. His hair was described as black, brown, red and blond. Two said he wore glasses; others didn’t remember glasses. What the witnesses all agreed was that the killer was a younger white man, slender, wearing dark or jean clothing, according to Perry’s habeas petition.
When Dale Bundy was hired by Sheriff Bill Smith to work the case in 1998, he said he reinterviewed those witnesses, one of whom led him to Jane Beaver who had shown the witness a picture of a man she thought could have been the killer.
As Bundy later told Susan Simpson for the podcast “Undisclosed,” when he knocked on Beaver’s door, introduced himself and explained why he was there, Beaver said, “It’s about damn time. Come in, and I’ll tell you what you need to know.”
Beaver said she showed one of the “church ladies” a picture of Perry. Perry had dated her daughter before he moved to Jonesboro up near Atlanta. One day, not long before the Swains were gunned down, Perry told her that he was mad because a black man who lived near his grandfather had laughed in his face when Perry asked to borrow money. She told Perry’s jurors that Perry called him the racially charged N word and said he always wondered what it would be like to kill a “N word,” and now, he was going to find out.
The effect on jurors was palpable, according to a note the prosecutor wrote during Beaver’s testimony. Beaver also had another surprise for the defense, something she just remembered before coming to court that day to testify. Perry used to always use the firebreaks in the area as shortcuts. The implication was clear – Perry could have cut through a firebreak between his grandfather’s home and the Rising Daughter Baptist Church the night of the murders.
Perry’s attorney protested that he was being ambushed at trial. He, as nearly all criminal defense attorneys do, opted for mutual discovery, which means he and the prosecutors were bound to share all evidence before trial. Assistant District Attorney John B. Johnson protested Beaver hadn’t told anyone about Perry’s use of the firebreaks until just before trial.
Judge Amanda Williams told Perry’s attorney he had time to go out to Camden County after court that night to see for himself. She allowed the testimony. No one testified that the firebreak property belonged to the investigator hired to solve the Swain’s murders, Bundy, Simpson found out while researching the case for “Undisclosed.”
The firebreak testimony wasn’t the only surprise for Perry’s defense attorney. He didn’t know that Beaver expected a financial award for testifying and did, in fact, collect $12,000. He didn’t know because the district attorney’s office hadn’t told him.
That office also hid from Perry’s attorney that a GBI agent, known for skill in interviewing suspects, had interviewed Donnie Barrentine, the suspect investigators in the 1980s believed killed the Swains. The GBI agent, Glenn “Dixie” Foster, told the investigators they had the right man, and he gave the district attorney, then Glenn Thomas, a report of what he considered Barrentine’s confession. Perry’s attorney specifically asked for a report by an investigator “Foster,” according to Perry’s habeas petition. The district attorney’s office also withheld the fact that one of the eyewitnesses said the composite drawing – portrayed as Perry or his twin during the prosecution’s case – didn’t look like the killer.
Barrentine testified at Perry’s trial with special immunity as someone who had been present at the time of the murders, according to the immunity agreement. John B. Johnson emailed Barrentine before trial to warn him that Perry’s attorney was trying to find him and that if asked about Foster’s interrogation, he could safely respond that he didn’t remember.
The prosecution’s final nail was Bundy’s testimony that Perry had confessed he had been at the church the night the Swains died. Bundy just hadn’t mentioned it in any report.
On Feb. 14, 2003, the jury convicted Perry of the Swains’ murders. Before the sentencing phase of the trial started, the prosecution offered Perry a deal – waive his right to appeal and the state would agree to a sentence of life in prison.
Perry agreed.
Sandy Hodson is a staff reporter covering courts for The Augusta Press. Reach her at sandy@theaugustapress.com.
