A TV movie in the making

It's a story that sounds more like a TV movie than real life: A man is jailed for 18 years for a crime he didn't commit, then he's exonerated with DNA evidence. Now his brother has confessed that he actually did it and his family is accusing Conroe police of manipulating witnesses into testifying against the wrong guy.

Lt. Russell Reynolds, who heads the Conroe police criminal investigation division, said it was identical statements from two witnesses and Charles Mumphrey's recanted confession that put Arthur Mumphrey in prison for 18 years on a sexual assault conviction involving a 13-year-old girl in a south Conroe neighborhood.

''It's a shame what happened," Reynolds said. "It's nothing we want to see. We're as upset as anybody about this, but it was his lying brother and friends that did this to him."

Charles Mumphrey confessed Monday that he was one of the two men responsible for the 1986 rape, but he didn't give many details, saying "he might have been under the influence of an alcohol or marijuana at the time" — much like in 1986, when Charles told police he was involved in the crime but gave little detail, leading police to think he was covering for Arthur, his brother.

What's a bit confusing is the involvement of Charles's family. When the crime occurred, Charles said he was with Steve Thomas — the other man accused of the sexual assault — and Charles's father told him to take the information to police. Later, police say, Bettye Mumphrey, Charles's mother, signed a statement recanting his involvement in the crime (though she now denies having done that). Bettye said Charles recanted his statement because authorities "said he'd get locked up," and yet she said she always knew Atrhur didn't commit the crime. We imagine she preferred to think neither of her sons was involved.

Authorities will now conduct a DNA test on Charles Mumphrey to see if he was linked to the crime; Arthur Mumphrey is scheduled to go before the state Board of Pardons and Paroles, where he's expected to be released from prison.

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Photo of Arthur Mumphrey from WFAA-TV