Prosecutor’s Review Uncovers New Suspects in 1996 Double Homicide with No Connections to Man Acquitted After Five Trials

NEW YORK—For 16 years, the prosecutor’s office in suburban New York maintained that it had apprehended the correct suspect in a notorious double homicide from 1996. The office put him on trial five times, facing a series of hung juries and overturned convictions, until he was finally acquitted and released in 2017.

On Monday, Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah, the current leader of the office, announced that a new investigation had uncovered two potential suspects with “no connection” to Selwyn Days, the individual previously tried and retried for the murders of Archie Harris, 79, and home health aide Betty Ramcharan, 35.

This announcement seems to be the first instance in which the DA’s office has publicly implied that guilt may reside with others apart from Days, who was acquitted by jurors in 2017. At that time, prosecutors expressed disappointment in the verdict.

Days’ attorney, Glenn Garber, stated on Monday that it is time for his client to receive vindication.

“He is genuinely innocent, and it’s crucial to thoroughly resolve this issue,” Garber remarked, emphasizing that the public deserves “a fair and just resolution of this abhorrent case.”

Rocah, who assumed office in 2021 and was not involved in the DA’s office during the prosecution of Days, did not provide details about the two individuals she referred to as “involved” in the murders, noting that the investigation is still underway.

According to her office, these recent developments indicate that further investigation is needed before any prospective future actions are taken. However, Rocah is running out of time to finalize this work, as she will be leaving office this week after choosing not to seek a second term.

“I hope these significant developments will lead to an ongoing investigation and actions that will bring justice for the families of Mr. Harris and Ms. Ramcharan,” she expressed in a statement on Monday.

Incoming DA Susan Cacace has committed to “continue reviewing cases like this double homicide.” Both Rocah and Cacace belong to the Democratic Party.

Garber expressed confidence that Cacace’s administration will “charge and hold accountable those truly responsible” for the murders.

Harris, 79, was a recently widowed millionaire known for boasting about keeping large sums of cash at his Eastchester home, and had been on the police radar due to complaints from his aides. He was facing serious allegations, including forcing one aide—Days’ mother—to perform sexual acts, and pointing a gun at another helper.

Surprisingly, he had bequeathed all but $19,000 of his estate to Ramcharan, excluding his three children from any inheritance. However, Ramcharan’s share eventually went to Harris’s family, as she tragically died alongside him on November 21, 1996.

Five years later, authorities arrested Days. He provided a video confession that his defense team later claimed was forced and false.

“I didn’t commit this crime. I don’t know who did. … I don’t know anything about it,” Days told a judge in 2004.

The first and third trials ended in hung juries, while the second and fourth trials led to murder convictions and 50-year sentences, both of which were overturned.

By the time he was acquitted in his fifth trial, Days had spent 16 years in prison.

Rocah established a Conviction Review Unit in 2021 to investigate claims of wrongful convictions, which began examining the Harris and Ramcharan case last year.

No immediate contact information for relatives of Ramcharan and Harris could be found on Monday.

By Jennifer Peltz