The Sad Story Of Lynn Dejac

Lynn DeJac Peters was 50 when she died of cancer on June 18, 2014, at her home in Buffalo, New York. It was the end of a short and unhappy life–13 years in prison for the murder of her daughter, a crime she did not commit. Even a $2.7 million wrongful conviction settlement was insufficient. It was both insufficient and too late.

Her journey began the night before Valentine's Day 1993, when DeJac and her then boyfriend, Dennis Donohue, went to a wedding and began to argue.

DeJac and Donohue left, still fighting, and went to her house, where her daughter, Crystallynn Girard, 13, and son, Edward, 8, were asleep.

The disagreement became physical, and DeJac contacted the cops to help her get rid of an "unwanted visitor." When the cops came, however, there was no one at the house.

DeJac had gone off to resume her binge, going from bar to bar with Donohue close behind. She landed at the Babcock Grill, her mother's drinking place, where she started talking to another man, Michael Nichter.

Donohue became angry and began throwing punches. The bar brawl turned into a wild vehicle chase.

Nichter took DeJac home at 5 a.m., where she asked him to stay in the living room while she checked on her sleeping children.

He spotted her putting the family dog and a phone in Crystallynn's room and closing the door. Then she requested that Nichter drive her back to his house.

It wasn't until 2:30 p.m. the next afternoon that police were called to her house due to reports of a lady wailing.

Crystallynn

Crystallynn was naked on her bed, lying on her back. An autopsy revealed that the girl was strangled between 11:30 p.m. and 5 a.m. Cocaine was found in her system, but not enough to kill her, according to the medical examiner.

The jealous lover with the violent temper was initially suspected. However, after he passed a polygraph test, interest in him waned.

Then detectives got a break when Wayne Hudson, a known criminal, told authorities that DeJac, whom he had known since childhood, admitted to killing her daughter.

Her April 1994 trial delved into the woman's shady past, a swirl of alcohol, drugs, and men.

DeJac received a 25-year to life sentence after being found guilty of second-degree murder in April 1994 in connection with the death of her daughter.

Her attorney said that the main source of evidence used to convict her of her daughter's murder was testimony from a neighbor who claimed DeJac had confessed to the crime.

DeJac was not implicated by any physical or forensic evidence. DeJac was pregnant during the trial, gave birth to twin boys while incarcerated, and later married the boys' father, Chuck Peters, while still a prisoner.

The prosecution's case then started to crumble. Donohue was detained for the 1993 suffocation of a Buffalo woman and was wanted for the 1975 murder of another Buffalo lady.

The DNA that matched Donohue's was discovered after investigators reexamined the DeJac case's evidence in the room and on the body.

Additionally, genetic data revealed that DeJac was not present when her daughter passed away.

Donohue had been granted immunity for his grand jury testimony against his former girlfriend, so there was no hope of charging him with the crime. He later went to prison for another murder in Buffalo.

On November 28, 2007, the charges were withdrawn, and DeJac became the first woman to have a murder conviction overturned based on genetic evidence.

DeJac attempted a fresh start by getting married to Chuck Peters, the father of her twin boys. She filed a lawsuit against the government for remuneration for her time in detention, and in 2012, a settlement of $2.7 million was reached.

One month after receiving the payment, she was given a terminal cancer diagnosis.