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Every day for nearly 10 years Melinda Elkins Dawson has asked the same question when she woke up in the morning: "What do I have to do on the case today?"

Earl Mann pleaded guilty last week in an Akron courtroom to murdering Dawson's mother, Judy Johnson, in 1998. "Now I need to realize this chapter is over," she said. "It's a hard habit to get out of."

Her sense of unreality is understandable. Dawson, who now lives in Preble County, devoted seven years of her life to proving that her ex-husband, Clarence Elkins, hadn't murdered his mother-in-law and raped the couple's 6-year-old niece, Brooke Sutton. Elkins was sentenced to life in prison on the strength of the child's testimony, though not a shred of physical evidence linked him to the crime.

During Mann's sentencing, Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Robert Gippin praised Dawson for her resourcefulness in cracking the crime. She learned that Mann, who lived down the street from her mother at the time of the murder, had been convicted of raping a child in 2002. In an uncanny coincidence, Mann ended up living in the same cellblock as Elkins. The couple schemed to get a sample of his DNA from a cigarette butt. It turned out to be a 19 million-to-one match with the killer's DNA.

Clarence and Melinda Elkins separated within months after his release from prison in 2005. She continued her pursuit of getting Mann behind bars.

"The sentence is a great victory for Clarence, for society and for the Innocence Project," said Mark Godsey, director of the Ohio Innocence Project, which worked closely with the Elkins family to win Clarence's freedom.

Now Dawson can look forward to the birth of her first grandchild in September. Her oldest son, Clarence Elkins Jr., and his wife, Angie, are expecting a baby girl. Younger son Brandon is making plans to marry his fiancee, Megan. "Now we can concentrate on everyday life, on being happy and having fun," she said.

Dawson also hopes her former husband can find peace and contentment now the true killer is behind bars: "He needed to get this behind him to get on with his life."

Elkins addressed Mann in court: "You're not going to take anything from me and my family ever again. You're a coward, Earl Mann. That's how I'm going to end this chapter in my life."

The Elkins' niece, Brooke Sutton, also spoke some unflinching words to the man who pleaded guilty to raping her. For years she was haunted by the knowledge that it was her testimony, as a confused 6-year-old, that put her uncle behind bars. "How dare you prey on me and my grandmother when we had no means of fighting back," she said.

Dawson is relieved that her niece won't go through the ordeal of another trial. She said Brooke was "more concerned with justice for my mom than for herself." Yet she hopes that her niece, too, will find healing from Mann's sentencing. "She has always been on guard," she said. "This means some of the fear has gone out of her."

It's a victory for society as well. "There's one less psycho out there," Dawson said.

As Dawson figures out what to do with the next chapter in her life, there's one worry that no longer gnaws at her. "I know my mom is at rest now," she said, "and I find that very comforting."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2209 or mmccarty@DaytonDailyNe

ws.com.