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N0KFQ > TODAY 25.04.16 15:14l 47 Lines 2106 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 91696_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Apr 25
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Sent: 160425/1405Z 91696@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.65
1989
A father is exonerated after 21 years
James Richardson walks out of a Florida prison 21 years after
being wrongfully convicted of killing his seven children. Special
prosecutor Janet Reno agreed to the release after evidence showed
that the conviction resulted from misconduct by the prosecutor.
In addition, neighbor Betsy Reese had confessed to the crime to a
nursing home employee.
On October 25, 1967, James and his wife, Annie, were working in a
field picking fruit when Reese came over to heat up a meal for
the Richardsons' seven kids. After they finished eating, the
children began foaming at the mouth. They were dead moments later
from poisoning. Police found that the rice and beans had been
laced with the pesticide parathion. Reese then reported that she
saw a bag of the poison in a shed behind the Richardsons' home.
Police discovered that an insurance salesman had visited the
Richardsons' home shortly before the poisoning and that James had
discussed life insurance for the entire family. The prosecution
made a big deal of this fact at trial but neglected to inform the
jury that the salesman had made an unsolicited visit and that
Richardson never bought the insurance because he couldn't afford
the premiums. The prosecutors also introduced three convicts who
claimed that Richardson had admitted to the mass murder while he
was being held in jail. It was later revealed that this testimony
was manufactured in return for leniency on their sentences.
The jurors were not told about Reese's criminal history. She was
on parole at the time for killing her second husband and was
suspected of killing her first husband with poison. After less
than an hour and a half of deliberation, the jury convicted
Richardson and sentenced him to the electric chair.
After Richardson's release in 1989, the governor of Florida
ordered an investigation into the prosecutor's office to discover
what prompted the miscarriage of justice.
73 - K.O., n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-Mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
Message timed: 09:04 on Apr 25, 2016
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