In the spring of 1987, the city of Minneapolis was gripped by a series of brutal killings. Angeline Sweet, a 26-year-old Native American woman, became the second victim in a string of murders that targeted women in the community. On April 12, 1987, her body was discovered in a park area near Franklin and Bloomington Avenues. The investigation revealed that she had been subjected to a savage attack; she was severely beaten, sexually assaulted, and ultimately died of asphyxiation.
The manner of her death, along with the discovery of two other murdered women, Kathleen Bullman and Angela Green, between July 1986 and April 1987, suggested the work of a serial killer, causing widespread fear and public outcry.
The investigation into these homicides led police to a drifter named Billy Glaze. In 1989, Glaze was convicted of the murders of Angeline Sweet, Kathleen Bullman, and Angela Green and was subsequently sentenced to three life terms in prison. The prosecution's case against Glaze was built on circumstantial evidence. However, Glaze maintained his innocence from the time of his conviction.
Years later, the case took a significant turn when the Innocence Project of Minnesota took an interest in Glaze's conviction. Advances in forensic science allowed for DNA testing on evidence collected from the crime scenes. The results of these tests, conducted by multiple labs on numerous items, excluded Billy Glaze as the perpetrator. The DNA evidence not only cleared Glaze but also implicated another man, a convicted rapist, whose DNA was found at two of the murder scenes, including on a cigarette butt discovered near Angeline Sweet's body. Despite these findings, Hennepin County prosecutors stood by the original conviction. Billy Glaze died in prison in 2015 at the age of 72, still fighting to clear his name.
