NORMAN GRAHAM

Cause of Conviction: Murder & Rape
County: Todd
Trial/Plea: Trial
Race: White
Year: 2008
Sentence: 40
Time Served: 9
Date Sentence Vacated: October 5, 2017
Reason Sentence Vacated: Newly discovered evidence
Cause of Wrongful Conviction: Reliance on circumstantial evidence

​Norman Graham’s girlfriend was raped and killed in Graham’s trailer in 1980, where she often stayed. On the night of her death, Norman Graham was in a neighboring county. Though there was no direct evidence tying Graham to the crime, in 1981, the Commonwealth charged Graham with the crime and proceeded to trial on a charge of murder. The case ended with a hung jury in 1982.  More than 20 years later, cold case detectives reviewing the case again recommended prosecution of Graham. This time he was convicted of rape and murder and sentenced to 40 years. 
 
KIP got involved in Graham’s case shortly after his conviction. KIP obtained DNA testing, which revealed the DNA of an unidentified person. However, it was considered inconclusive because it could not exclude Graham, despite the fact that the victim often stayed at Graham’s trailer and they were engaged in a consensual sexual relationship. The presence of his DNA at the scene and on her person was to be expected. 
 
KIP continued investigating and was eventually able to secure statements from several individuals who were in the same trailer park on the evening of the offense. One witness gave a sworn statements that her brother – now convicted of two other murders under similar circumstances – was the perpetrator. She claimed that she was aware of what he was doing on the night of the offense but did not come forward at the time because she was terrified of her brother and of her mother, who protected him. A first cousin of the true perpetrator also came forward saying that she, too, saw him coming from the direction of Graham's trailer, after hearing a scream, the night of the murder.
 
Based on the newly discovered evidence, the trial court vacated Graham’s conviction in October 2017. 

To learn more about the case go to:

https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=5661