Was Crucial DNA Evidence in Tony Carruthers’ Case Never Fully Tested?

Botched Execution Grants Reprieve [0:00]

• In May 2026, the attempted execution of Tony Carruthers in Tennessee was called off after more than an hour of complications.
• Officials were unable to establish the required IV lines for the lethal injection process.
• Carruthers was granted a one-year stay of execution, giving him an additional year to prove his innocence.

  "Which means you have one more year to prove to the world that you are innocent."

The Case Against Tony Carruthers [3:35]

• Tony Carruthers was convicted in 1994 of murdering three people.
• His attorney, Maria DiLiberato of the ACLU, believes he is innocent and has been fighting for his case.
• The case began over 30 years ago, with a potential twist now emerging.

  "And Maria says anyone who looks at the facts of Tony's case will see it."

Discovery of the Victims [6:00]

• On February 24, 1994, DeLois Anderson was reported missing from her Memphis home.
• Her son, Marcellus Anderson, and his friend, Fred Tucker, were also missing.
• The burned Jeep they were last seen in was found across state lines in Mississippi.

  "Something was really weird here, but no one realized how bad things were until the niece's home phone rang late that night, or technically the early morning hours."

Bodies Found at Rose Hill Cemetery [8:33]

• On March 3, 1994, Jonathan Montgomery led police to a grave at Rose Hill Cemetery.
• Beneath a recently buried woman's casket, police discovered three bodies: DeLois Anderson, Marcellus Anderson, and Fred Tucker.
• All three victims had their hands bound, and the male victims had been shot.

  "There are three additional bodies. And according to court docs, a bloody blanket was found in the grave next to a woman with two male victims on top of her."

Initial Investigation and Theory [10:49]

• Jonathan Montgomery claimed his brother, James Montgomery, and Tony Carruthers were involved.
• Police theorized a kidnapping and robbery motivated by drugs and money, given Marcellus's flashy lifestyle.
• Jonathan Montgomery was charged alongside Tony and James, despite his initial claims of not being present.

  "Police concluded that there was a kidnapping and attempted robbery. The motive was money and drugs, and that's why these three were killed."

Twist 1: Jonathan Montgomery's Death and Alfredo Shaw's Testimony [13:00]

• Jonathan Montgomery died by suicide in his jail cell before the trial.
• The case was initially dismissed due to insufficient evidence.
• A new witness, Alfredo Shaw, came forward claiming Tony Carruthers confessed to the murders.

  "Well, that never happened because, twist number one, Jonathan Montgomery hung himself in his jail cell before the trial began."

Twist 2: Alfredo Shaw's Recantation and Carruthers' Self-Representation [15:31]

• Alfredo Shaw later recanted his statement, claiming he made it up, but faced perjury charges.
• Tony Carruthers, representing himself due to documented mental health issues, called Shaw to testify.
• The medical examiner testified the victims were likely buried alive, a conclusion later questioned by the examiner himself.

  "He said he drew that conclusion at the time based on dirt in the airway of a victim and active bleeding from the other two."

Conviction, Appeals, and New Evidence [19:15]

• Both Carruthers and James Montgomery were convicted and sentenced to death in 1996.
• James Montgomery was granted a new trial due to Carruthers' poor self-representation and later took a plea deal.
• The ACLU discovered unidentified fingerprints and an unknown male DNA profile in the case file, neither matching Carruthers or James Montgomery.

  "For one, James Montgomery's new trial. Maria said as part of that new trial, it was revealed that six unidentified fingerprints were found at DeLois Anderson's home, where she was taken from."

Medical Examiner's Revised Testimony and Informant Status [23:59]

• The original medical examiner stated he could no longer confirm the victims were buried alive.
• Records revealed Alfredo Shaw was a paid confidential informant for Memphis PD during the investigation.
• Two original jurors stated they would not have voted for the death sentence with this new information.

  "But now the doctor said other factors like post-mortem pressure could have caused that. And he wrote he no longer could say with certainty they were buried alive at all."

Ronnie "Eyeball" Irving and Victim Families [27:11]

• James Montgomery told investigators that Tony Carruthers was not involved and that "Ronnie Eyeball" Irving assisted him.
• Ronnie Irving was murdered in 2002, and his DNA has not been compared to the evidence in the case.
• The father of victim Fred Tucker had previously expressed forgiveness for Carruthers before the botched execution.

  "He told them he would be attending the execution as closure to the awful situation he has lived, that he forgave Tony for killing his teenage son, but that it was time for him to go meet his maker."