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[disnut8]

Needless to say, this has got Atlanta stirred up.

Published on: 02/27/07

A Fulton County Superior Court judge has ordered DNA testing be conducted on hairs, clothing and a car seat as part of the latest effort by convicted killer Wayne Williams to prove his innocence.

Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore issued the order Monday after Williams' lawyers requested it and prosecutors consented. Though it agreed to the testing, the state has said it doesn't believe the outcome will indicate that Williams was wrongfully convicted.

The order does not say how long the testing by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation will take, but says it will be paid for at court expense.

Between 1979 and 1981, 29 blacks, mostly boys, were killed in the Atlanta area. Williams was convicted of murdering Jimmy Ray Payne, 21, and 27-year-old Nathaniel Cater. He was sentenced to two consecutive life terms. Evidence of a pattern of conduct in 12 of the murders was used in his trial. Afterward, officials declared Williams responsible for 22 other deaths, and those cases were closed.

Williams has always maintained his innocence, but has lost numerous court battles.

His lawyers say the DNA tests they have been seeking were not available when Williams went to trial in 1982.

The judge ordered that animal hairs found on some of the victims be compared to samples of hairs from Williams' dog. Human hairs admitted into evidence will be compared to samples of Williams' DNA.