The Nebraska Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for a man sentenced to life in the 1987 death of a neighbor, saying DNA evidence may have changed the outcome of his trial.

Leroy Parmar was convicted of first-degree murder for the robbery and death of Frederick Cox. Cox's bound body was found in his Omaha apartment.

Parmar sought DNA testing of two blood-stained sheets pulled from Cox's bed, which excluded Parmar as a contributor to the DNA on them.

A Douglas County District Court rejected his plea for a new trial, saying the evidence would not have changed the outcome of his trial.

But the Nebraska Supreme Court said Friday that the lower court erred, because the DNA results "tend to create a reasonable doubt," that Parmar killed Cox.