OSKALOOSA, Kan. (AP) _ A judge has approved a Kansas inmate's request to re-test DNA evidence in a 1993 murder.

Fifty-five-year-old Bradley Wade Johnson is serving a life sentence for the March 1993 death of Benjamin Creek. Johnson and a co-defendant, Frank Sutton, met Creek in a Topeka bar. Prosecutors said the two men robbed and beat Creek before his body was found in rural Jefferson County. Sutton is also serving a life sentence.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports (http://bit.ly/Ye379k ) Johnson always claimed his conviction was a case of mistaken identity.

On Tuesday, a Jefferson County judge ordered that hairs found on Creek's body and blood from Johnson's clothing be re-tested. In 1993, DNA testing could show only that the hairs were consistent with Johnson's. Modern testing could conclusively identify the source of the hairs.

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Information from: Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World, http://www.ljworld.com