A man who led the investigation that sent six people to prison for a murder they did not commit is defending his work in the case as part of a lawsuit over the wrongful convictions.

Burt Searcey, who led the 1989 investigation into Helen Wilson's 1985 rape and death, testified on the stand Tuesday. Searcey was not a law enforcement officer or a licensed private investigator, but began looking into Wilson's murder after being contacted by members of her family.

Two of the six people sent to prison, Ada Taylor and James Dean, are seeking $500,000 each from the state for the years they spent in prison.

Taylor, Dean and four others were exonerated by DNA evidence, and they were pardoned in 2009.