Criminal Injustice on Days of our Lives

After setting Doug (Bill Hayes) up on a drug bust in 1977, causing him to lose his liquor license and club and, eventually, leave town, Larry Atwood moved in on Julie (Susan Seaforth Hayes). He helped her navigate problems that arose at Doug’s Coffee House and tried to win her over. When she rebuffed his advances, he raped her. A traumatized Julie kept mum before finally opening up to Doug. When Larry ended up dead, Julie was arrested, and stood trial for his murder in 1978. Fortunately, Julie's good name was cleared when Larry’s assistant, Arlo, confessed to killing him.

Poor David Banning (Gregg Marx, pictured with Philece Sampler's Renee) ended up on the wrong side of the law twice. In 1981, Renee found him standing over Alex Marshall’s bloody body holding the gun that shot him. Although David insisted he’d found Alex wounded, he was charged with attempted murder and sentenced to seven years in prison. Alex eventually cleared David, naming an associate of Stuart Whyland's as his assailant. Later that year, Renee was attacked by The Salem Strangler, and David was accused of the crime. Renee exonerated David when she awoke from her coma, and Jake Kostichek was exposed as the real culprit in 1982.

Andre took the DiMera/Brady feud to a new level in 1983 when he embarked on a killing spree as The Salem Slasher, offing the town’s women and framing Stefano's nemesis, Roman Brady, for their deaths. To that end, he cleverly wore a mask of Roman's face while taking the lives of Trista, Leticia, Renee and others. Roman’s then-wife, Marlena, even witnessed “her husband” leaving the scene of one of the murders. After Roman (then-Wayne Northrop, l.) was arrested, Bo (Peter Reckell) helped his brother bust out of jail so he could clear his name. Andre was ultimately exposed as the real killer in 1984, but fled Salem to escape criminal charges.

After arguing with Steve’s (Stephen Nichols) first wife, Marina (Hunter Tylo), in her hotel room in 1990, Kayla (Mary Beth Evans) left the premises, only to have Marina later discovered dead. Steve and Kayla’s proceeded with their plans to remarry (pictured), but the police charge in and arrested the bride for murder. A pregnant Kayla stood trial and went into labor on the witness stand, ultimately being found guilty and sent to prison. Kayla was freed when the truth came out that Marina had brandished a gun on her sister, Isabella. They struggled over the weapon and Marina fell, hit her head, and died instantly.

To save Kate from an irate Franco, who was about to clock her over the head with a fire poker, Lucas shot and killed him in 1998. A calculating Kate convinced Lucas to frame Sami (Alison Sweeney) for the murder, so he could get custody of their son, Will. Lucas went along with the scheme and watched as Sami was convicted of the crime and sentenced to death. Seconds after Sami’s execution began (pictured) in 1999 and she was given the first dose of a lethal injection, Lucas raced in yelling that he’d killed Franco, bringing everything to a halt. Kate later got a dying man to sign a false confession so that both Sami and Lucas would be spared.

Ben Weston (Robert Scott Wilson) happened upon a horrific scene in 2019 when he discovered his sister Jordan’s dead body. As DAYS flashed forward to its one-year time jump story, the reformed Necktie Killer was in prison serving time for murder. Convinced of his innocence, Ciara (Victoria Konefal) set out to prove it. Her investigation led her to Evan, the nanny Rafe had hired to help care for Jordan's son, David. It turned out he was really Christian Maddox, Orpheus’s son and David’s biological father, and had killed Jordan during an argument. Ciara uncovered the truth on the day of Ben’s execution in 2020, forcing her way into Statesville with Evan, who revealed all. In the process, Ben was saved and soon set free.

Another Salemite who didn’t fair well during DAYS’s time jump story was Will (Chandler Massey, r., with Casey Moss as J.J.). He was sentenced to two years in the slammer in 2019 for his role in the three-car accident that claimed the lives of Adrienne (Judi Evans) and Sarah’s newborn child. It turned out he’d been texting while driving and swerved to avoid an oncoming car, while Adrienne and Maggie’s vehicles went off the road. Will confessed, and Xander and Victor let him take the fall to protect Maggie, who they believed had been driving drunk. In 2020 it was revealed that Orpheus had actually been behind the wheel of Maggie’s car and caused the accident, and Will was released from prison.