Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions

This chapter delves into the tragic story of Henrietta Nickens, an elderly woman living in a troubled neighborhood of Chester, Pennsylvania, who was brutally assaulted and murdered in her home in October 1997. The chapter explores the flawed police investigation, coerced testimonies, and judicial failings that led to the wrongful convictions of three men—Sam Grasty, Derrick Chappell, and Morton Johnson—despite clear evidence pointing to their innocence.

Nickens was a kind-hearted woman in poor health, living alone in a modest apartment. On the night of her murder, she had dinner with her daughter, granddaughter, and a family friend before locking up and preparing for bed. Sometime during the night, an unidentified assailant—later referred to as “Unknown Male #1” (117)—broke into her home, raped her, and inflicted fatal injuries. Her body was discovered the next day by her worried family.

The investigation quickly unraveled into a cascade of errors. Police focused on Samuel Grasty, the teenage boyfriend of Nickens’s granddaughter, based solely on her speculative statement during a domestic argument. They coerced a confession from a 15-year-old, cognitively impaired drug user named Rick McElwee, who claimed to have acted as a lookout for Grasty, Chappell, and Johnson. McElwee’s fabricated account became the cornerstone of the case, despite inconsistencies in his testimony and a complete lack of physical evidence connecting the three men to the crime.