CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Newly revealed DNA results have potentially shed light on a long-standing mystery in Charlotte, North Carolina. The DNA, consistent with a 61-year-old career criminal named Marion Gales, has been found at the 1990 crime scene where Kim Thomas was killed.
The discovery of this DNA has implications for Dr. Ed Friedland, who has been trying to clear his name in connection with his wife’s murder. Friedland, Thomas’ husband, was charged with his wife’s death four years after she was found killed in their home. Although the charges against Friedland were dropped and never refiled, he has continued to live under a cloud of suspicion for 34 years.
An October 2021 test report indicated that DNA from a comb used to collect pubic hair on Thomas’ body was consistent with Gales’ DNA. Additionally, a January 2022 test found DNA on a rug near the crime scene that matched Gales’. These results were released late on New Year’s Eve by court order.
Attorney David Rudolf, representing Friedland, maintains that these DNA results confirm Gales as the perpetrator of Thomas’ murder. He has criticized the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department for not publicly exonerating Friedland despite having evidence to do so as early as 2010.
Gales, who had worked odd jobs for Thomas before her death, has long been suspected in connection with her murder but was never charged. He was later imprisoned for killing another woman and is expected to be released from prison in March 2025.
Rudolf has expressed hope that these new revelations will lead to an indictment of Gales. The case of Kim Thomas’ murder and Friedland’s subsequent legal battle have remained a haunting, unsolved mystery in the city, drawing attention once again with the release of these DNA results.