Court orders new trial for convicted killer

Citing judicial error, the state Court of Appeals today ordered a new trial for the man convicted of the 2003 rape and murder of Julie Jett, a promising College of Charleston honors graduate who was killed while moving out of her West Ashley apartment.

Jarod Wayne Tapp, 28, began serving a life sentence for Jett's killing after his conviction in 2005. He is presently housed at Lieber prison in Ridgeville.

The appeals court ruled that the trial judge improperly allowed speculative testimony from State Law Enforcement Division Agent Mike Prodan that was irrelevant and prejudicial to Tapp's case.

Tapp's lawyer, Timothy Kulp, said he was pleased by the court's decision. "I recall during (Prodan's) testimony at trial I was extremely frustrated by his opinions for which he could not give a substantial basis," he said.

Kulp said Tapp, who maintains his innocence, has not yet learned of the court's decision.

Solicitor Scarlett Wilson, who prosecuted the case, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Tapp was accused of entering Jett's Middleton Cove apartment off S.C. Highway 61, possibly under a ruse for help, and stabbing her to death. Her body was left in a bathtub. A murder weapon was not recovered, but a plastic piece to a missing steak knife was found at the scene.

Jett, 25, had been an achiever at the College of Charleston. She was the first in the Jett family to graduate from college, and school officials had been so impressed with her, they created a full-time job for her.

Tapp's trial hinged largely on DNA evidence from the semen that authorities collected from Jett's body. No one saw Tapp enter the apartment on the night she was killed, and he left no fingerprints at the murder scene.

Prosecutors held off on seeking the death penalty in part because the DNA was considered a weak sample because it didn't specifically narrow the profile to just Tapp. But it was good enough to show a genetic link that included Tapp, expert witnesses testified.

Tapp, who lived with his grandmother in the apartment below Jett, became a suspect after Jett's friends told authorities of a man who lived near her she thought was "creepy." When he was interviewed by police, Tapp admitted he was high on cocaine the night of the murder, but he denied talking with her. He said he hung around the apartment complex that night, drinking and smoking cigarettes.

Later, when his DNA showed a link to her, Tapp reportedly told police they were sex partners, a claim denied by her friends who testified Jett was a helpful but private person, safety conscious and wary of strangers.

Read more about the case in Friday's editions of The Post and Courier.