BRUNSWICK, Ga. — For two decades, an innocent man sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison waited, hoping he would overcome to odds and exonerate himself.
That day finally came Monday when a judge officially dismissed the charges against Dennis Perry.
"It's like a big burden is lifted off of me," Perry, 59, said. "I'm free to be a free man."
In 2003, Perry was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for the cold case double-murder of Harold and Thelma Swain in March 1985. In 1998, the case was reopened and Perry was eventually identified as a suspect, despite that the only DNA evidence in the case ruled him out as the killer.
"I was cleared by the GBI in 1998 only to find out I was the only suspect," Perry said.
Authorities arrested Perry in 2000 and charged him with both murders, beginning his 20 years as an innocent man behind bars.
"The state took from me my freedom, my family, my health, my house and my pets," Perry recalled. "In 2000, I lost my freedom."
Perry denied any involvement in the Swain murders and proclaimed his innocence, even as he faced the death penalty. Yet, he was still convicted in 2003 on circumstantial and character evidence, according to the Georgia Innocence Project.
Sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, Perry felt as if everything had been taken from him.
"It was all taken from me because of a wrongful arrest and conviction," Perry said. "The possibility of having my own children and watching them grow."
From the day he began his sentence, Perry struggled to grasp the new reality of a life behind bars and away from those he loved.
"I lost my grandmother. My best friend, I lost her in 2014. I lost my mother in 2017 and my father in 2020," Perry lamented. "I was never able to say goodbye or properly grieve them. These emotions you're robbed of while in prison."
Yet, despite the personal tragedies in his life, Perry held on to his knowledge that he was indeed innocent and his faith that one day he would have the opportunity to prove it.
That opportunity came from the Georgia Innocence Project, who took up the case along with a new team of attorneys from King and Spalding.
"This conviction never should've happened in the first place," said Clare Gilbert of the Georgia Innocence Project. "We knew before Mr. Perry was even convicted that the DNA from the crime scene did not match Dennis Perry."
Even after Perry's conviction was overturned in 2020, he still continued to fight to completely clear his name. The turning point in that fight came with a new district attorney in Keith Higgins, who believed Perry was wrongfully convicted and justice needed to be done.
Finally, on Monday, Perry received the news he had waited for two decades to hear: He had officially been exonerated.
"I can put my trust back in the system now. I didn't, but I can now," Perry said. "I'm grateful that this part of the nightmare is behind me."
Despite his joy that he is a free man, Perry said he now is stressed by the fact he has to begin a new life from square one.
"It's not possible to grieve in a healthy way. I'll always carry this with me," Perry said. "In this time in my life, I should be able to have my finances in order so my wife and I can think about retirement. Instead, I have no income, my health is no good, and I must start all over again."
Still, Perry humbly said he holds no grudges against anyone in the case. Instead, he is thankful for the opportunity to start his new life, no matter the challenges ahead.
"I just want to thank everybody who was involved in this case, King and Spalding, the Innocence Project, Georgia Innocence Project, Keith Higgins, all of them for looking at my case and finding the truth in it," Perry said.
Most of all Perry is thankful for his wife who stood by him for two decades when it felt everything had been taken from him.
"I'm thankful for my wife Brenda for her love and support," Perry said. "She is the strongest warrior I could've ever asked for."
Twenty years, 7,858 days of fighting for what Perry knew was the truth. Though much has changed, Perry remains very much a family man. Their strength and belief in him helped give him the strength and courage he needed to see the fight through the final round.
"Mom, Dad and Nanny: I love you," Perry said, referring to those that passed while he was behind bars. "Thank you for your belief in me. I wish you were here today."