Marion Gales, a man long linked to the unresolved homicide of a Charlotte woman in 1990, is scheduled to walk out of prison today. Gales has been behind bars on an unrelated manslaughter conviction since 2019, and despite newly matched DNA evidence connecting him to the decades-old crime scene, he faces no charges in that case. This development follows the release of testing results by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department which linked his DNA to the scene, with pubic hairs collected from the victim's body and DNA on a rug matching Gales, as reported by WSOCTV.
The cold case victim, Kim Thomas, was found brutally murdered in her home. For years, suspicion had revolved around two men: Dr. Ed Friedland, Thomas' husband, and Marion Gales, who performed handyman work at their home. While Friedland had his charges dropped swiftly and was later cleared, Gales became enveloped by the shadow of another crime, leading to his incarceration on separate grounds. In a past wrongful death lawsuit back in 1997, Friedland emerged victorious against a Gales, adding a legal weight to the cloud of suspicion hanging over him, as detailed by WCNC.
Rediscovered DNA evidence has pushed this case back into the public eye. In December 2023, a judge ordered the release of several pieces of evidence in Thomas' case, allowing DNA testing of items such as pajamas, the dining room floor, and blood samples from both Friedland and Gales. "The tests found that public hairs collected from Thomas' body were consistent with Gales' DNA and that DNA found on a rub was consistent with Gales," according to another report from WCNC.
Friedland, having moved to Florida, has been following the case and was hopeful for a resolution, especially after the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department reopened the investigation in early 2010. I "hoped detectives could solve the mystery," Friedland commented in an interview with WCNC Charlotte.
