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This is a list of notable overturned convictions in the United States.
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Joseph Roy Metheny was an American serial killer and rapist from the Baltimore, Maryland area. While he claimed to have killed 13 people, sufficient evidence was only found to convict him of two murders. Research later confirmed 3 more victims, through matching his confessions to evidence.
Rodney Lynn Halbower is an American serial killer. He is the prime suspect in the Gypsy Hill killings, a series of murders of young women in San Mateo County, California and Reno, Nevada), whose killer was named The San Mateo Slasher. In March 2014, based on DNA profiling, Halbower was named as a person of interest in the murders. By this time, Cathy Woods, a mental patient who was convicted for one of the victims' murders, had already been exonerated after 35 years behind bars. He has been convicted of three murders and is believed to be linked to two murders related to the Gypsy Hill killings. At the time of his identification, Halbower himself had been imprisoned for 38 years in Oregon.
Donald Murphy is an American suspected serial killer, sex offender and bank robber, convicted of murdering two prostitutes in Detroit in 1980. During this time, several similar murders occurred in the city, presumably committed by two or more killers operating in the area, with Murphy himself confessing to committing at least six of them. However, he was convicted of only two with the available evidence, and sentenced to 15–30 years imprisonment for each murder.
Larry Lee Ranes and Danny Arthur Ranes were American serial killer brothers who committed their crime sprees predominantly in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Larry, a suspect in the murders of five people in the 1960s, was sentenced to life imprisonment for one murder in 1964; Danny was convicted of four sexually-motivated murders between March and August 1972 with accomplice Brent Eugene Koster, for which both were sentenced to life imprisonment. Their case is notable for the fact that, unlike other siblings who engage in crime, Larry and Danny operated completely independently of one another.
Jerome Dennis is an American serial killer and kidnapper who abducted and sexually assaulted seven women and young girls in Essex County, New Jersey, from late 1991 to early 1992, killing five. At the time of the murders, he was on parole for a prior rape conviction. After his arrest, Dennis pleaded guilty and was later sentenced to life imprisonment in 1993.
Ramon Torres Hernandez was an American serial killer, kidnapper and rapist responsible for at least three murders in Bexar County, Texas from 1994 to 2001, and is a prime suspect in two others. Following his arrest, he admitted to the killings, was sentenced to death and ultimately executed in 2012.
David Leonard Wood, known as The Desert Killer, is an American serial killer and rapist who killed at least six girls and women in El Paso, Texas between May and August 1987, burying their bodies in the desert. While he has denied culpability for the crimes, he was nonetheless convicted and sentenced to death.
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Offender Tracking Information System (OTIS) - Offender Profile". mdocweb.state.mi.us.
- ↑ "Michigan Parole Board Assailed After Killings". The New York Times. May 31, 1992.
- 1 2 Witsil, Frank. "Coronavirus is killing haunted houses, but we still have real horror stories to scare you". Detroit Free Press.
- ↑ "Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan on April 26, 1992 · Page 12". Newspapers.com. 26 April 1992.