Dateline NBC reexamines David Strickland's conviction for fatal attack in Portland

A new Dateline NBC episode that aired in December took another look at the sexual assault and shooting of two South Texas women nearly a decade ago.

Dateline originally aired an episode on the case in 2017 after a San Patricio County Judge found David Strickland, a Portland, Texas, man, guilty of capital murder.

Strickland was sentenced to life in prison without parole, but the new Dateline episode suggests new DNA evidence could prove someone else was to blame.

The episode can be streamed on the NBC app or online at www.nbcnews.com/dateline.

More about the Strickland case

In June 2012, Mollie Olgin and her girlfriend, Mary Kristene Chapa, were bound, sexually assaulted and shot in the head at Violet Andrews Park in Portland before their bodies were found by bird watchers. Olgin, 19, died at the scene. Chapa, now 27, survived. Chapa suffered tunnel vision and lost part of her mobility.

The crime went unsolved for about two years before police shifted their focus to Stickland in 2014 after learning about a letter addressed to Chapa's father written from the perspective of a hitman. The letter included details that hadn't been released to the media. Strickland told investigators he composed the letter two weeks before his arrest and printed it out at a public library computer.

After two hours of being interviewed by Portland police and Texas Rangers, Strickland confessed. Then, he took it back. Strickland told investigators that Olgin and Chapa were rude to his wife, who was a server at Chili's, and he followed them back to the park where he shot them, but prosecutors believed Olgin and Chapa did not visit Chili's the night of the shooting.

Additionally, a firearms expert at the Texas Department of Public Safety testified that the bullet casing at the scene likely matched Strickland's handgun.

Strickland was sentenced to life in prison without parole in September 2016. His attorney, Cynthia Orr, told the Caller-Times that the type of DNA testing technology that would be conducted on a piece of pubic hair found on Chapa was not available during the time of Strickland's trial. She believed the testing could help exonerate Strickland.

In 2019, one of Strickland's attorneys said a man from Nevada, whose DNA was found at the scene, was actually responsible for the crime. San Patricio County prosecutors argued that even if the hair came from another man, it would not exonerate Strickland.

The other man, from Nevada, admitted he was at the park that night and lived in the area at the time of the shooting. Though he was suspected by police for two years, he was never charged in the case. Strickland's lawyers said his DNA was found on several items at the park, including cigarette butts and an energy drink can.

More: Could David Strickland be exonerated in 2012 Portland double shooting? Here's the latest.

In May, Strickland's attorney Cynthia Orr, Fort Worth lawyer Michael Logan Ware and Barry Scheck of the Innocence Project signed a filing for a proposed order requesting access to physical evidence, records and results of DNA testing, hair and trace evidence, jail phone calls and recorded interviews of the other man.

The document also requested the results of DNA testing conducted on a pubic hair that was found on Chapa's body. The results, Strickland's lawyers argue, reveal it belonged to the other man.

Read more

More: Court document: David Strickland denied appeal in killing of Mollie Olgin in 2012

More: Defense: New DNA results exonerate man convicted in 2012 double shooting in Portland

More: 'Truth About Murder with Sunny Hostin' episode about 2012 Portland attack of teens to air

Ashlee Burns covers trending and breaking news in South Texas. See our subscription options and special offers at Caller.com/subscribe

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Dateline looks at David Strickland's conviction for South Texas murder