Murder of UNCC student gets national attention on ABC's 20/20

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The murder of a UNC Charlotte student will get national attention thanks to ABC’s 20/20.

The program will interview Mark Carver, the man convicted of killing Ira Yarmolenko.

(Ira Yarmolenko)

A LOOK BACK: Yarmolenko's death & investigation

More than 100 pages of motions fill a binder that claim Mark Carver is in prison because he didn't get needed representation.

Carver's trial attorneys David Phillips and Brent Ratchford are still baffled by the verdict 5 years ago.

“This is the one case that I lose sleep over, that troubles me,” Ratchford said.

"This was the biggest stun of my career," Phillips said.

They said they are not the reason why a jury found Mark Carver guilty of murdering Ira Yarmolenko, a UNC Charlotte student killed in 2008.

Investigators found Yarmolenko's body along the Catawba River in 2008. They found Carver's DNA on her car and a jury sentenced him to life in prison in 2011.

Carver claimed that he did not commit the crime but jurors found him guilty.

(Carver)

His cousin and codefendant Neil Cassada died before his trial.

The immense motion filed by the North Carolina Center for Actual Innocence claims Carver's attorneys didn't effectively argue against police interviews that led Carver to admit to things he didn't really know.

One motion said Carver's DNA found in Yarmolenko's car could have been transferred through sweat when an officer shook Carver's hand and later touched the car.

Channel 9 spoke with Christine Mumma, the Raleigh attorney who filed the motion for the NC Center for Actual Innocence.

"Not only do I not think it would have made it to appeal, I don't think he would have been convicted," Mumma said.

"Let's blame the lawyers. It's always the lawyer's fault. I think they are probably barking up the wrong tree," Phillips said.

Those arguments were made during the trial.

"The jury wanted to blame someone and they did. They just blamed the wrong person," Ratchford said. "David and I did our jobs. We did our jobs the right way the first time."

"I would be elated if he was released, but it's not because of our ineffectiveness," Phillips said.

Now, the decision is up to the resident superior court judge to read the enormous motion and decide if Carver's conviction should be vacated and called for a retrial.

Phillips said it is rare that a judge vacates a verdict in a murder trial.

Channel 9 has reached out to the district attorney to get his thoughts on this motion.

Read more top trending stories on wsoctv.com:

Cox Media Group