DNA from a man convicted of murder was not found on the victim or items taken from the crime scene, according to a defense expert.

Gary Wayne Bennett is fighting his Horry County murder conviction from nearly two decades ago. Bennett has long professed his innocence in the case, and now might have the evidence to back up his claims.

Bennett and Andrew Lindsey were each charged with murder for the May 2000 slaying of Eva Martin inside her Little River Road home. The two allegedly went to her home where her throat was cut twice with a butcher knife and she was positioned to make her death look like a sexual assault.

Bennett has been in jail since his arrest and is currently serving life in prison. Lindsey is a free man.

“I had absolutely nothing to do with or knew anything about [the crime],” Bennett wrote in a recent letter to The Sun News.

Investigators have said Lindsey and Bennett planned to rob Martin and that is why they went to her home.

Bennett’s defense attorney, Amy Lawrence, has long begged the court to allow DNA testing on evidence collected from Martin’s bedroom. In June 2018, Judge Larry Hyman ordered DNA testing on various items.

A letter from defense expert Norah Rudin states the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Crime Lab never requested a DNA sample from Bennett to compare with the evidence.

Rudin reviewed the forensic tests and Bennett’s DNA sample and determined “no evidence of contribution from Gary Bennett was found in any of the samples,” according to the letter now part of the case file.

The defense reviewed tests on items including the victim’s clothing, samples related to sexual contact and hairs collected from the victim’s right hand. Tests showed Bennett couldn’t be the source for the DNA in those samples, Rudin stated.

“Dr. Rudin’s comparison tests completely excludes me as a possible contributor to any samples,” Bennett wrote in his letter. “I would suggest this absolutely eliminates the possibility that I had anything to do with Marie’s death. It’s unequivocal!”

Bennett is currently at J. Reuben Long Detention Center awaiting a retrial on murder and armed robbery charges. An appeals courts initially denied Bennett’s efforts to overturn his supposed wrongful conviction.

But an Horry County judge granted what’s called post-conviction relief paving the way for a new trial.