Tennessee death row inmate: Unknown DNA on weapon

By TRAVIS LOLLER
Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee inmate scheduled to be executed this month is asking the courts to reopen his case after DNA from an unknown person was detected on one of the murder weapons. Oscar Smith is scheduled to die by lethal injection on April 21. He was convicted in 1990 of fatally stabbing and shooting his estranged wife, Judith Smith, and her two teenage sons, Jason and Chad Burnett. Smith has maintained that he is innocent. In a Monday court filing, Smith’s attorney says that newly available touch DNA technology has allowed the analysis of evidence that was previously impossible.