Massachusetts police made a breakthrough in a decade-old cold case murder on Friday, thanks to a sweet potato. Authorities arrested Devarus Hampton, of Mashpee, on charges of murder, assault, and battery with a deadly weapon after police found the alleged killer’s DNA on a sweet potato left at the scene of Todd Lampley’s murder in February 2011.
Hampton, 40, pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail at his arraignment on Monday in Barnstable District Court.
Lampley, 31, was shot through the bedroom window of his Hyannis home, and police found three shell casings, a black cellphone, and a sweet potato with a hole through it at the scene.
The sweet potato appears to have been used as a silencer, according to First Assistant District Attorney Jessica Elumba. Investigators found Hampton’s DNA on the sweet potato, and prosecutors recalled a scene in the hit HBO series “The Wire” when a sweet potato was used to mask a gunshot. The cellphone found at the scene of the shooting was registered under the name Marlo Stanfield, one of the characters on the show.
Despite the ample evidence against Hampton, prosecutors declined to comment on why it took 12 years to arrest him. According to Elumba, Hampton was wearing a GPS tracking bracelet at the time of the murder, and police were able to tie his GPS location to Lampley’s home. His location records also placed him at the lake where the gun used in the murder was discarded and later fished out by civilians.
Hampton’s court-appointed attorney, Edward Fogarty, plans to launch a vigorous defense. Though Hampton’s possible motive remains unclear, he and Lampley were familiar with each other.
During a 2010 trial, Hampton implicated Lampley in the 2007 shooting death of Jacques Sellers in Hyannis. Hampton’s testimony, which contradicted his previous statements, was “jaw-dropping,” according to one attorney at the time.
Hampton was also charged with child rape and another non-fatal shooting in 2008. He is due back in Barnstable County court on April 5.
»See how sweet potato helps American police solve a cold murder case«
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