Man Released From Jail 39 Years After Wrongful Conviction Spends First Thanksgiving Free With Detective Who Advocated for Him

On his first day free in nearly four decades, Craig Coley sat at the head of a dining room table and dug into a traditional Thanksgiving meal.

Craig Coley is shown in photos from 1978 and 2017 during a news conference with Simi Valley Police Department and the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office on Nov. 20, 2017. (Credit: KTLA)

There was a lot to be thankful for. Coley, who was wrongly convicted of murder and spent 39 years in prison, celebrated the holiday at the Carlsbad home of the retired police detective who was convinced of his innocence and tirelessly advocated for his release.

Coley, a former restaurant night manager, had fought unsuccessfully for years to overturn his conviction for a grisly double murder that stunned suburban Simi Valley in November of 1978. When police reopened the case, new tests found that a key piece of evidence used to convict him did not carry any of his DNA.

Gov. Jerry Brown pardoned Coley on Wednesday, clearing him of the murders of his ex-girlfriend Rhonda Wicht, 24, who was beaten, raped and strangled, and her 4-year-old son, Donald, who was smothered in his bed. Coley, who was 31 at the time of his arrest, is now 70.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.

from KTLA http://ift.tt/2A5X4M1