AKRON, Ohio -- Lawyers for a man serving a life sentence for raping and killing his mother-in-law and raping his 6-year-old niece said he should be set free, NewsChannel5 reported.

Clarence Elkins said DNA evidence will exonerate him. He helped secure the evidence himself. He retrieved a cigarette butt from another inmate.

Elkins' lawyers sent it for tests that they now say link the other inmate to the crimes.

A press conference is scheduled for Thursday. It will focus on that evidence not available at his 1999 trial, which reportedly matches a former neighbor as the real killer.

That person is currently serving time for raping three girls.

Elkins' attorney is appealing a judge's decision in July not to grant him a new trial despite the evidence.

Three years ago, the niece recanted her identification and instead identified a man who resembled her uncle as the true perpetrator. In 2002, a judge denied Elkins' bid for a new trial, saying the girl's recantation was tainted by family influences.

Elkins, formerly of Magnolia, is serving a life sentence for killing his 58-year-old legally blind mother-in-law, Judy Johnson. He is eligible for parole in 2054.