In the early morning of May 2, 1991, two sisters, who were 13 years old and 16 years old, spent the night alone in their home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, after their mother stayed over at her boyfriend’s home. At about 5:30 a.m., when they got up to get ready for school, they discovered an intruder had entered through a kitchen window.
The intruder raped the two girls at knifepoint and fled.
Rape kits were collected from the victims along with other evidence from the crime scene including bedding and clothing.
The girls said their attacker looked like 31-year-old Joseph Abbitt, a man who had lived in the neighborhood and had been a visitor to their home.
The girls separately identified Abbitt in a photographic lineup.
In March 1994, Abbitt was arrested in Texas and returned to Winston-Salem.
Prior to trial, DNA testing was inconclusive.
In June 1995, Abbitt went to trial in Forsyth County Superior Court. The victims testified that Abbitt was the man who attacked them.
Abbitt testified and said that he was working the day of the crime. His employer testified and said that Abbitt was at work, but he could not provide a time card because the time cards were no longer available four years after the day of the crime.
On June 22, 1995, Abbitt was convicted of first-degree rape, first-degree burglary and first-degree kidnapping. He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences plus an additional 110 years.
Abbitt appealed his conviction but it was upheld in May 1996.
In 2005, Abbitt applied to The North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence for assistance with his case. His case was accepted, and investigators began to search for the evidence that could be subjected to DNA testing.
At the time of Abbitt's conviction, police were not required to preserve evidence after conviction. However, the rape kits were located at the Winston-Salem Police Department.
In July 2009, DNA testing excluded Abbitt as the source of the spermatozoa in the older girl’s rape kit.
On September 2, 2009, Abbitt’s conviction was vacated and the case was dismissed. He was released from prison.
In 2010, the prosecution reported that Abbitt’s DNA had been found on a sample taken from a bedsheet at the house. However, the defense contended this did not inculpate Abbitt because the victims’ mother had testified that she had sex with Abbitt at about that time of the assault of the daughters.
Abbitt filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit, which was dismissed in 2013. He died in a traffic accident in March 2015.
– Maurice Possley
Posting Date: 09-01-2011
Last Update Date: 02-23-2026
