Arkansas man released after 35 years for murder he didn’t commit

An Arkansas man was released from prison Friday after serving more than three decades for a murder he said he did not commit.

Charlie Vaughn had been incarcerated since 1991 for the 1988 murder, rape, and burglary of 81-year-old Myrtle Holmes.

DNA testing conducted in 1989 had excluded Vaughn as the source of the sexual assault, but he was charged anyway and later pleaded guilty to first-degree murder to avoid the death penalty, despite no physical evidence linking him to the crime.

In 2015, another man, Reginald Early, confessed to killing Holmes, and DNA evidence matched his confession.

Despite this, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders denied Vaughn clemency in 2023.

This week, the Arkansas Department of Correction released Vaughn from Tucker Maximum Security Unit under an Alford Plea Agreement, granting a “time served” sentence. He will not return to prison.

Vaughn is now staying at a friend’s farm as he adjusts to life outside prison.

“They’re taking Charlie on to their farm and giving him a place to live. They’re going to feed him, and Charlie has a lot of advantages that most prisoners coming out of Tucker Max do not have,” his attorney Stuart Chanen said.

Prosecutor Jeff Rogers said the release was fully supported by the primary surviving family member of the victim, who attended the court proceedings.

Friday marked Vaughn’s freedom, but not full vindication.

Chanen said they plan to revisit clemency in four years and may pursue financial compensation due to the wrongful conviction that remains on Vaughn’s record.

“He really has such a good attitude. He’s such a positive person,” Chanen said.

Source: KTLO, Staff, January 12, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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