Elwood Jones is on death row after a controversial murder trial in 1995. But could he be innocent?

The 1995 murder trial against Elwood Jones was about as controversial as it gets.

Mention Jones’ name to longtime members of the legal community in Hamilton County, Ohio, and chances are they’ll recognize the name.

“I’m telling you, this case had a stench,” said Cincinnati defense attorney Bill Gallagher, a staunch opponent of the death penalty who followed the case as a local attorney. “He felt there was evidence that was not as presented in court, that it was something other than that.”

After a two-year investigation halted by COVID, reporters from The Cincinnati Enquirer and USA TODAY Network’s award-winning true-crime podcast “Accused” can confirm that some of the evidence presented to jurors was presented as more conclusive than it was. weren’t.

But does that mean Jones is innocent?

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Augmented reality experience:Enter the crime scene at the heart of “Accused: The Imending Execution of Elwood Jones”

Jones is currently awaiting execution on Ohio’s death row during the fatal 1994 beating of Rhoda Nathan, 67, a New Jersey native who traveled to Blue Ash, Ohio, for the bar mitzvah of the grandson of her best friend.

On September 3, 1994, this best friend returned to the women’s shared hotel room to find Nathan unconscious on the floor. When Jones was arrested a year later, police and prosecutors said they were awaiting forensic test results before charging their prime suspect.