Updated: Suspect in Michael Morton Case Arrested
Update: 6:00 p.m.
GEORGETOWN — Mark Alan Norwood, a 57-year-old Bastrop resident, was arrested today and charged with the 1986 murder of Christine Morton. Michael Morton, her husband, was exonerated of her murder last month after spending nearly 25 years in prison, when DNA connected Norwood to the Morton murder and to the murder of another Austin woman, Debra Masters Baker.
Williamson County Sheriffs Office Sgt. John Foster said Norwood was arrested at his Bastrop home and that police had known his whereabouts since his DNA was identified in August. He is being held on a capital murder charge ...
Comments (10)
Kelley Masters via Texas Tribune on Facebook
At long last.
Debra Haas via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Thank goodness Michael Morton wasn't executed. Good to see him exonerated - although he will never get his wife or those 20 years back.
Darrel Mulloy via Texas Tribune on Facebook
But, if it hadn't been for the outcry, Morton would have been executed and the real killer would have gone free.
Jeff Davis via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Glad he's out ... but tired of TV newscasters who keep saying that DNA evidence ''proved his innocence,'' or ''proved he did not kill his wife,'' or similar wording. The DNA evidence did not prove either of these things. It proved another person was there.
Wilco Watchdog
Given the past few weeks depositions of Davis, Anderson, Wood and Bayardo with statements from John Bradley, this has only just begun.
WUSRPH
I do not know why you people are so picky about the way the former DA handled the original case...just because he withheld a little bit of evidence....after all, he got a conviction didn't he? And, in Williamson County, that has always been the only thing that counted any way.
K Johnson
Norwood has been loose for 25 years, and at least one additional murder was committed because Williamson County prosecutors buried evidence and got the wrong man convicted. And Norwood actually was in jail in California in 2008 and in Bastrop in 2010 while Williamson County DA John Bradley was trying to keep the evidence with Norwood's DNA from being released.
Phillip Baker via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Sorry, but the DNA did certainly prove Morton's innocence. That DNA was found in Wilco in 1986. It appeared again at the Debra Baker crime scene in 1988. Morton had been in prison 2 years by then and his DNA was NOT on that bandana. That proved his innocence.
phillip baker
Had Ken Anderson actually searched for truth in the death of Christine Morton and now rail roaded Mortin, maybe Debbie would still be with us today. This nonsense of "absolute immunity" for DA's for any and all actions taken while in office is absurd and needs to be addressed. Anderson- and Bradley- are sure not the only DA's who have hidden evidence or made it up. These are common stories all over this state. That needs to change. As it is, DA's have no incentive to stay within the law and are never convicted for misbehavior by exonerated people. The stench of corruption from Wilco is staggering. State Bar, are you watching??
BTW, let me contrast Wilco with Travis County. Here, Chief of Police Art Acevedo and DA Rosemary Lemberg have been upstanding professionals with high integrity. We in Travis Cty are blessed in having them to serve us. Thank you, Chief Acevedo and DA Lemberg.
Chris Conn
Thank you Brandi. We appreciate your hard work on this.