Private investigator Dan Myers says he knows the identity of the man who raped Lovely Bones author Alice Sebold
The private investigator who helped prove Anthony Broadwater's innocence in the 1981 rape of author Alice Sebold says he's learned the name of a man who may be the real rapist – and is calling for the criminal case to now be reopened.
In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, investigator Dan Myers said a detective who was involved in the original investigation gave him the name of a suspect, who was locked up for committing another sex crime around the time of Sebold's rape.
That man now lives in Syracuse and is listed on New York's sex offender registry, Myers has discovered.
'I know he does still exist,' Myers said. 'He definitely did time in prison, and he's now out.'
Broadwater, 61, was convicted of raping Sebold in 1982. He spent 16 years in prison and was released in 1998.
On Monday, his conviction was overturned after a producer working on a film adaptation of Lucky, Sebold's memoir about the rape, noticed inconsistencies in the story.
Lovely Bones author Alice Sebold, right, is yet to comment on the exoneration of Anthony Broadwater, pictured left in court on Monday. In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Myers said a detective who was involved in the original investigation gave him the name of a suspect
This is the 1981 line up of black men that Alice Sebold was told to choose from. Anthony Broadwater is the second from the right, fourth along in the lineup. She picked the man next to him, who was in the fifth position, but was then told by police she had 'failed to identify the suspect'. They were convinced it was Broadwater and she later changed her identification in court, naming him as her attacker. The man in fifth position has not been named and it's unclear why he was in the lineup
The producer Tim Mucciante hired the private investigator to look into the case and lawyers to work on an appeal.
Myers, a detective who retired last year from the Onandago County Sheriff's Office that covers Syracuse, said Mucciante hired him early in the summer.
Producer Tim Mucciante called in Myers to look into the case because he was so alarmed by the inconsistencies in the memoir
'With Tim, it started with him wanting detail of the actual rape because they were making a true to life movie and some things didn't add up,' Myers said. 'He originally just wanted me to find out if this rape had even taken place. Then as I went into the investigation, I found out the rape did happen. I 100 percent believe it occurred and that she (Sebold) was the victim of a crime.'
Sebold identified Broadwater in court as her rapist, even though she had identified a different man, standing next to him, in a police lineup months earlier. She said that the pair were 'identical' and that she had chosen the wrong man in the lineup.
'I don't blame her for what happened,' Myers said. 'I blame the prosecutor and the judge who decide to continue on with the case against Anthony even though she identified the wrong person. I blame the system.'
Sebold didn't name her attacker in her memoir.
Myers said he discovered Broadwater's name in newspaper clippings from the early 1980s. He then spoke with several police contacts he knows, including a retired Syracuse detective who was involved in that 1981 case.
'He shed a lot of light on the investigation,' Myers said.
Shockingly, that detective expressed doubts that they'd arrested the right man.
'He told me he didn't think Anthony Broadwater was the person who committed the crime,' Myers said. 'And he said he might know who did commit it. He had a name.'
'He had a feeling that it was the wrong person and he thought that for many years, and he told me that I should reach out to Anthony and talk to Anthony about it,' he added.
Broadwater, pictured in court on Monday, said he was still crying tears of joy and relief over his exoneration the next day
Broadwater, 61, shook with emotion, sobbing as his head fell into his hands, as the judge in Syracuse vacated his conviction at the request of prosecutors
Anthony Broadwater is pictured on the steps of his home this week, holding a newspaper about his exoneration, with producer Timothy Mucciante, who hired the lawyers who represented him in court after becoming suspicious of the case
Myers met with Broadwater in front of his house, bringing another private investigator Curtis Brown with him.
Sebold detailed the assault in her 1999 memoir, Lucky - her first of three books - which was in the process of being adapted as a film for Netflix. The fate of the film adaptation following Broadwater's exoneration is currently unknown
'After speaking with Anthony, we started walking back to our car,' Myers recalled. 'We both looked at each other and agreed he was the wrong guy.'
'The biggest thing that stood out in my mind when I started looking into Anthony is that he had no criminal history,' he said. 'Given the crime, I would have expected him to have quite a rap sheet. And he's been out for more than 20 years, with no re-offenses.'
Myers then
