|
Location |
Defendant(s) |
Date of Alleged Crime |
| Franklin County,
KY |
Herman May, Jr. |
1988 (Frankfort) |
|
Herman
May, Jr. was
accused of raping a woman in 1988. He was set free in 2002 after DNA tests
excluded him as the rapist. [6/05] |
| Harlan County,
KY |
Condy Dabney |
Aug 23, 1925 (Coxton) |
|
Condy Dabney was convicted of
murdering Mary Vickery, 14, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Vickery had
disappeared on Aug. 23, 1925. A month later a girl's body was found nearby
in an abandoned mine shaft. After Mary's father had posted a $500 reward
for information, a woman named Marie Jackson came forward and claimed to
have witnessed Dabney murder Vickery.
The
prosecution's case against Dabney was weak. The found body was too decayed
to be dead only a month and witnesses disputed Jackson's whereabouts on the
day of the alleged murder. Still Dabney was convicted. Twelve months after
Dabney's conviction, a police officer in Williamsburg, KY, 85 miles away,
happened to notice the name Mary Vickery on a hotel register. Because the
name seemed familiar, he spoke with her and realized that she was the person
Dabney was convicted of murdering. Mary said she ran away because she was
not getting along with her stepmother. Dabney was released and Jackson was
convicted of perjury. The found body was never identified. (CWC) (CTI)
[10/05] |
| Jefferson County,
KY |
William Gregory |
1992 |
|
William
Gregory was
convicted of raping one woman and attempting to rape a second woman.
Neither of the women identified him as the rapist when they were shown his
photograph, but both later insisted that he was the rapist. A police
forensic "expert" testified that Gregory's hair was "similar" to the
assailant's hair found in a stocking cap. Gregory served 7 years of a
70-year sentence before being DNA tests exonerated him. (IP)
[10/05] |
| Jefferson County,
KY |
Troy Rufra |
|
|
Troy
Rufra, an
American Express financial advisor, was charged with robbing three
supermarket bank branches in St. Matthews plus another one in Clark County,
IN. A teller at one of the supermarkets saw Rufra shopping there and
identified him as the man who robbed her three weeks before. Rufra had left
the supermarket by the time police arrived, but was identified by the debit
card he used to make a purchase. Tellers at other bank branches then
identified Rufra using suggestive one-on-one identifications. After a fifth
robbery occurred, Rufra presented an airtight alibi, and police concluded he
was innocent of all the robberies. (Louisville
CJ)
[11/05] |
| Jefferson County,
KY |
Matthew Fields |
Oct 2005 |
|
Eighteen-year-old Matthew Fields confessed under police interrogation to a
home break-in and a sexual assault. After spending a year in jail awaiting
trial, DNA tests exonerated him. (Louisville
CJ) |
| Kenton County,
KY |
Timothy Smith |
Charged 2000 (Covington) |
|
Timothy
Smith was
convicted of sodomy after his teenage daughter, Katie, claimed
repressed memories of abuse. His other daughters had denied such abuse. In
2006, his conviction was overturned because of failure of his counsel to
challenge the prosecution expert who backed up Katie's story. The expert
had obtained a doctorate in an unaccredited online school. Katie Smith died
in 2005 after attacking Sarah Brady, who was 9-months pregnant, with a
knife. Brady managed to grab the knife and turned it on Smith. Police
concluded Brady acted in self-defense. (AP
News) [9/06] |
| Whitley County,
KY |
Larry Osborne |
Dec 14, 1997 |
|
Larry Osborne was convicted of
murdering Sam Davenport, 82, and his wife Lillian, 76. He was sentenced to
death. The victims were hit over the head and their house was set on fire.
They died of smoke inhalation. Osborne, 17, and his friend, Joe Reid, 15,
said they heard breaking glass from the Davenport home when they passed it
while riding a motorbike on the night of the murders. Osborne phoned his
mother, who in turn phoned the police. When the police arrived at the
scene, the house was in flames.
After repeated
interrogations, police got 15-year-old Reid to state that Osborne committed
the murders while he waited outside. In a police videotape of Reid's
statements, Reid is seen asking "Is this going to get me out of all this
stuff?" Reid also stated that after Osborne set fire to the
house, he left it
through the back door. However the back door had a dead bolt lock,
with a double key. It is not believed that anyone one went through it
that night.
Before Reid could testify at Osborne's
trial, he drowned while swimming in Jellico, Tennessee. His death was ruled
accidental. At Osborne's trial, the prosecutor read Reid's statement. The
defense objected, but the judge overruled the objection. On appeal, the
Kentucky Supreme Court overturned Osborne's conviction. Reid's testimony
was ruled inadmissible because a dead witness cannot be cross-examined.
Osborne was acquitted at retrial after spending three years on death row.
(Louisville
CJ) (TWM) (JD13) |
|