A Pennsylvania judge on Thursday vacated the murder convictions of three Philadelphia-area men in a 1997 slaying after new tests concluded none of their DNA had been found at the crime scene, according to a court order.

Samuel Grasty, Derrick Chappell and Morton Johnson have always maintained their innocence in the killing and possible sexual assault of 70-year-old Henrietta Nickens. Attorneys compared the case to the infamous wrongful conviction of five young men of colour in the rape of a jogger in New York City’s Central Park in 1989.