Man convicted of 1984 murder

TULSA — A man has been convicted in the slaying of a co-worker more than 30 years ago in Idabel after investigators linked him to the homicide using newly obtained DNA evidence.

A McCurtain County jury deliberated for 45 minutes Wednesday before finding Ernest Alvin Lewis, 66, guilty of first-degree murder in the 1984 shooting death of Johnny Smith at an Idabel lumberyard. Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter announced Thursday that Lewis had been sentenced to life imprisonment.

A news release states Lewis was originally charged with Smith’s murder in 1984, but the case was dismissed due to a lack of evidence and went cold.

The victim’s remains were exhumed in 2011 to collect bone and tooth samples for DNA testing. Samples from the crime scene reportedly matched the DNA taken from the exhumed body, and the chances of another individual possessing the same DNA were 1 in 388,000.

The evidence led to the first-degree murder charge being refiled in July 2017.

Although all convictions are hard to secure, Hunter said in the release

that cold cases are among the most difficult.

“The successful outcome of this trial couldn’t have happened without the relentless commitment of attorneys and investigators working together to bring justice to the Smith family,” he said. “Though today’s conviction won’t bring their loved one back, I hope the family that waited all of these years for someone to be held accountable finally has the closure they deserve.”

According to an affidavit, four men reported hearing what sounded like a gunshot at the K.C.S. Lumber Co. in Idabel and, immediately after, saw an individual driving a loader erratically on June 28, 1984. Several minutes later, they saw a pickup drive past them in the opposite direction and out of the front gate of the lumberyard.

Three of the men recognized Lewis, who was employed by the lumber company, as the driver of both vehicles, the affidavit states. Lewis reportedly told another witness he needed to go home due to an emergency. After he returned about 20 minutes later, another person told the witness that someone had been killed.

The successful outcome of this trial couldn’t have happened without the relentless commitment of attorneys and investigators working together to bring justice to the Smith family.” Mike Hunter, Oklahoma attorney general