A New York truck driver, who spent nearly 19 years in prison for murder, was released on April 28, after testing of DNA found in the victim’s clothing excluded him as the killer. Frank Sterling, now 46, was convicted of the 1988 murder of Viola Manville after he confessed to the crime during an all-night interrogation. He later recanted this confession, claiming he had slipped into an hypnotic state during the lengthy questioning and parroted details given to him about the crime. The DNA test pointed to another man, Mark Christie, as the killer. Christie, who is serving a sentence for strangling a 4-year-old in 1994, confessed to the murder earlier this month. He had been questioned about Manville’s killing in 1988 but was discounted as a suspect after he denied involvement. (Sterling was convicted in 1992, shortly before New York adopted the death penalty in 1995. The state abandoned capital punishment again in 2007.)

(B. Dobbin, “DNA Clears NY Man Wrongly Convicted of 1988 Murder,” Associated Press, April 28, 2010). See also Innocence.

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