Rodney Reed is guilty

On April 23, 1996, Stacy Stites was murdered by Rodney Reed.  Six months later, Linda S., was visiting Bastrop to meet with friends.  She stopped at Longs Star Mart to use the phone, where a man asked her for a ride.  Initially, Linda refused, but the man made a statement about "freezing to death" and she relented.  The man claimed to live "on Main Street," but his directions took them to a relatively undeveloped, deserted area.  

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When Linda got tired of the aimless route she was driving, she pulled over and told the man to get out of her car.  He opened the door and asked for a hug.  Linda declined.  She was then attacked by the man, who slammed her head into the steering wheel.  After a struggle with her attacker that moved outside of the car, a vehicle driving down the road spooked the attacker, who stole Linda's car.  Linda reported the attack to the police and picked Rodney Reed out of a line-up.  

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In March, 1997, the Texas DPS lab hit linked the DNA from a 1989 cold case rape to the DNA from Stacey's rape and murder.  DPS had a sample of Reed's DNA from a 1995 rape allegation and his DNA profile was compared to the DNA from the two cases.  Rodney Reed could not be excluded as the donor of the DNA.  

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On April 4, 1997, Reed was questioned by David Board, an investigator of the Bastrop Police Department.  When asked about Stacey, Reed denied knowing her.  He was then arrested for capital murder.

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At a bond hearing, Reed claimed to have had a "secret relationship" with Stacey.  His attorneys used that strategy at trial, but the jury found him guilty of capital murder and sentenced him to death in May, 1998.  The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed his conviction and his request for a writ to the U.S. Supreme Court was declined.

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