On June 8, 1981, a couple and their two children were staying in a motel in Bossier City when three armed men broke into their room. One man held down the father while a second raped the mother. A third suspect searched the family’s car. The first and second man switched places and the victim was raped again. They tied up the family and fled. A month later, co-defendant James Gladney was arrested for a similar crime. Co-defendant Reggie Hicks and Eric Prudholm were pulled into the investigation because Hicks was Gladney’s brother-in-law and Mr. Prudholm was a friend of the Hicks family.
Police claimed that one of several pubic hairs found on bedding at the scene was similar to Mr. Prudholm’s hair. None of the other hairs matched any of the three suspects. Seminal fluid was detected on several items from the scene, as well as on samples from the victim’s rape kit. Over three months after the crime, the female victim made cross-racial identifications of all three suspects from separate photographic lineups. Though her description of the perpetrator alleged to be Mr. Prudholm differed from his actual appearance, a non-unanimous jury convicted him of aggravated rape and armed robbery in December 1981. He was sentenced to life.
In our investigation, Innocence & Justice Louisiana learned that Mr. Prudholm informed his trial attorney that he was in California at the time of the crime, but no investigation into his alibi was ever performed. DNA testing of the sexual assault evidence proved that Hicks and Gladney had raped the victim. Though he maintained his innocence, Mr. Prudholm agreed to enter an Alford plea that meant immediate release from prison. He was released in January 2019, having served over 37 years in prison.
