hen a woman was raped during the robbery of a Waxahachie convenience store in 1985, Victor Larue Thomas was a suspect in an unrelated sexual assault that occurred in the area. Although their initial suspicions of Thomas in the unrelated case were unsubstantiated and police did not pursue that case against Thomas, he was taken in for questioning for the convenience store rape.
Statements made by Thomas during his interrogation eventually led police to suspect him in the convenience store rape case. The victim identified Thomas as her attacker, and he was arrested and charged with robbery, kidnapping, and rape. Based almost entirely on the victim’s in-court eyewitness identification, Thomas was convicted of all charges and sentenced to life in prison.
Post-conviction DNA testing proved that Thomas had not committed the crime, and he was released on June 27, 2001. The District Court Judge noted that Thomas should never have been prosecuted. Thomas was granted an official pardon by Governor Rick Perry in 2002.
Because of a mistaken eyewitness identification, Victor Larue Thomas spent fifteen years in prison for a crime he did not commit.
