A man sent to Texas death row for the 1992 slaughter of a central Texas family became a free man Wednesday after prosecutors dropped the capital murder charges against him. Anthony Graves walked out of the Burleson County Jail in Caldwell on Wednesday afternoon after 16 years behind bars. He had been convicted of helping Robert Earl Carter kill Bobbie Joyce Davis; her 16-year-old daughter, Nicole; and four grandchildren between the ages of 4 and 9 in the family s Somerville home. The family was stabbed, shot and bludgeoned with a hammer and their house doused with gasoline and set ablaze. The only evidence tying Graves to the killings was Carter's testimony, and Carter recanted just before his 1998 execution. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans overturned Graves conviction in 2006, ruling that prosecutors withheld evidence and elicited false testimony. Authorities decided to retry Graves, and he had been in the county jail since then. In 2007, a special prosecutor told a judge that crucial evidence was missing and might never be found in Graves case. The missing evidence includes the skull caps and clothing of the victims, special prosecutor Patrick Batchelor told Burleson County District Judge Reva Towslee-Corbett in Caldwell. Other missing evidence from the original trial includes fingerprints, bullets from the victims, a bloody hammer and a hunting knife, Batchelor said. Since Graves was arrested in 1992, a new jail has been built and key police personnel have changed. Because of the change of jails and personnel, we may not have a definitive answer, except to say that they are gone, Batchelor said. A report in the October issue of Texas Monthly magazine raised new questions about the lack of evidence tying Carter to the crimes. Texas Though he spent 18 years behind bars for a crime he didn t commit, Anthony Graves told reporters Thursday that he s not angry. In a brief press conference, Graves said allowing himself to despair would have made him just a dead man walking. His journey to freedom was a long one. Convicted of capital murder for the 1992 slaughter of a Central Texas family, Graves spent two years behind bars awaiting trial, a dozen years on death row until an appeals court threw out his conviction, and four more years locked up in county jail, awaiting a new trial that prosecutors this week decided they couldn t support. Graves said death row was hell, but insisted he s not bitter and is happy to be alive. He walked out of jail Wednesday carrying a single box and an onion bag full of his possessions all he had to show for 18 years of his life and returned home to a tearful, joyous family in Brenham. My mother, when I got out of the jail, I called my mom. I asked her what she was cooking, and she said why. And I said, because I m coming home. She couldn t believe it, Graves said. Arthur Curry, Graves brother, said his mother s house was a bit different on Thursday. Even when it began, it felt like this is a dream, this can t be real, said Curry. Now it s that same feeling all over again, but this is a happy feeling, a happy dream, the other one was a nightmare. Graves was convicted of helping Robert Earl Carter kill Bobbie Joyce Davis, her 16-year-old daughter and four grandkids between the ages of 4 and 9 in the family s Somerville home. Carter had been in a battle with the grandmother of one of the slain children. He confessed to the murder, but he pointed the finger at Graves in exchange for the DA s promise not to prosecute his wife. The only evidence tying Graves to the killings was Carter s testimony, and Carter recanted just before his 1998 execution. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans overturned Graves conviction in 2006, ruling that prosecutors withheld evidence and elicited false testimony. In 2007, a special prosecutor told a judge that crucial evidence was missing and might never be found in Graves case. The missing evidence included the skull caps and clothing of the victims, special prosecutor Patrick Batchelor told Burleson County District Judge Reva Towslee-Corbett in Caldwell. Other missing evidence from the original trial included fingerprints, bullets from the victims, a bloody hammer and a hunting knife, Batchelor said. How can a prosecutor do that? How can you manipulate evidence and manufacture it into being a murder weapon? asked Special Prosecutor Kelly Siegler. Since Graves was arrested in 1992, a new jail has been built and key police personnel have changed. Because of the change of jails and personnel, we may not have a definitive answer, except to say that they are gone, Batchelor said. Graves mother, Doris Curry, said it s now time for the family to look toward the future. Start from the beginning, start all over. It s as new to him as it is to me, she said. We re gonna start from scratch. The mother of two little girls killed in a mass murder in Central Texas believes the man released from death row is still guilty. Glenda Rutledge watched the news reports of Anthony Graves walking out of the Burleson County Jail in Caldwell on Wednesday afternoon. He gets a second chance and if that s how it s supposed to be, that s how it s supposed to be, said Rutledge. But nothing s going tochange the fact that the girls don t get a second chance. Her daughters Lea Erin and Brittany, two cousins, their grandmother and aunt were all murdered in Somerville in 1992. They were killed in their sleep. There was nothing I could do, said Rutledge. They were stabbed to death. They were set on fire. Graves and another man, Robert Earl Carter, were both convicted of capital murder for the crimes. According to Graves attorney Katherine Scardino, Carter changed his story before being executed. He admitted that Graves was not involved. Every single person who worked on this case said that Anthony Graves is innocent, said Scardino. An appeal and lack of evidence freed Graves from death row after a dozen years. I ve always told my attorneys, I m not gonna' compromise, said Graves. I don t want no plea bargain. You either free me or kill me. Glenda Rutledge still believes that Graves was involved. Lack of evidence does not an innocent man make, said Rutledge. It s proven every day. She still believes someone helped Carter kill six of her family members that night. Rutledge asked, If not him, then who?

KHOU