Man granted bond after conviction tossed in church killings

BRUNSWICK, Georgia (AP) — A man who has spent two decades in custody was granted bond Thursday after his conviction in the killings of a couple at a Waverly church was overturned.

Dennis Perry, 58, has been serving two life sentences for the 1985 killings of Harold and Thelma Swain. Both victims were killed inside Rising Daughters Baptist Church in Waverly, Georgia.

Brunswick Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett last week tossed Perry’s convictions and ordered a new trial after DNA recovered from the crime scene matched an alternate suspect during reinvestigation of the case.