Yeah, done spinning my wheels on this pointless argument, nothing has come out that clarifies one issue of contention. For the record, I have read the posts of people who think they did it, but am not convinced, because there is little to no tangible evidence that could be used in court.
The original convictions mean nothing to me, as I have read the cases of dozens of people that were wrongly convicted and later released due to the work of Innocence Projects throughout this country.
Really bad cases create so much political outcry, that someone has to go down for it. I think juries play into that. They have confidence in their DAs and police and feel that charges would have never been brought if they didn't do it. But they are, everyday in America. That was my original point about the Austin Yogurt Shop murders, I think there was political pressure to make it go away, and it did, for awhile. However, as years passed, people looked at the case and the holes, which were ignored earlier, got bigger and bigger. There are people who think the police got the right guys in both cases, but APD never went for the retrial, because the emotion now, 25 years later, does not exist. This makes conviction difficult. I have never believed that is the burden of the accused to prove they didn't do it, that is on the state.