Two Oklahoma Inmates Found Innocent 20+ Years After Murder Conviction

Two men, who have been in prison for murder for nearly 20 years, will soon be free. A judge declared both De'Marchoe Carpenter and Malcolm Scott innocent Monday afternoon.

The judge said new evidence proves Carpenter and Scott did not murder Karen Summers in a drive-by shooting in 1994. The big new evidence was a death row prisoner, Michael Wilson, who confessed to Summers’ murder right before he was put to death for another murder.

The judge said if that evidence had been available when the two men went on trial, they would have been acquitted, not convicted.

Wilson was caught with the murder weapon and the car used in the drive-by shooting of Summers, but, at the time, prosecutors charged Wilson with accessory after the fact and he got a five year sentence.

1/29/2016 Related Story: Death Row Inmates Claim They Committed Tulsa Murders Others Were Convicted For

Wilson was out on bond in the Summers case when he committed the murder that got him the death penalty.

Also, several other witnesses in the Summers case have since changed their testimony.

Scott's mother, Ruth Ella Scott, was overcome with joy at the news her son was cleared and would be released.

"I'm so happy, Oh my God, thank you Jesus," she said.

All this happened because Eric Cullen, a young private eye at the time, sent a flyer to the prisons asking prisoners if they were innocent.

He heard back from Carpenter and Scott, and many others, but started investigating their case and, eventually, it led to the creation of the Innocence Project at the Oklahoma City University law school.

This was their first case, and it's a huge victory - ten years in the making.

Cullen said, "I have had a lot of gratifying things in my career, I'm not gonna lie, but, this is number one, for sure."

Police and prosecutors felt Wilson confessed to the Summers murder just to help out Carpenter and Scott, who were his buddies and fellow gang members.

The prosecutor plans to appeal Monday’s decision.