DNA Frees Man Convicted of Murder

(Aug. 20) -- A man who served 21 years in prison for a murder and rape he didn't commit walked out of a Connecticut court a free man Wednesday after a judge dismissed all charges against him, reported WTNH.
Kenneth Ireland was 16 years old when Barbara Pelkey, a 30-year-old mother of four, was raped and murdered in 1986. Police found Pelkey's nude body at the former R.S. Moulding and Manufacturing Co. in Wallingford, Conn., where she worked the overnight shift, NBC Connecticut (WVIT) reported.

Kenneth Ireland spent 21 years in prison, convicted of a murder that occurred when he was 16. But new DNA testing proved he didn't commit the crime. On Wednesday, a Connecticut judge dismissed all charges against him. Above, he leaves the courthouse a free man. His is just the latest case cleared via new DNA testing.

At the time, prosecutors used DNA evidence to help convict Ireland. While the DNA found at the scene of the crime wasn't conclusively linked to Ireland, it was linked to a blood type that 20 percent of the population has, including Ireland, reported The Associated Press in the Hartford Courant. Two people also testified that Ireland confessed. But Ireland denied those statements.
New tests conducted on that DNA in the past few months at the behest of the New Haven state's attorney conclusively proved Ireland's innocence. On Aug. 5 he was released from jail, according to the Courant, and on Wednesday a judge formally dismissed all charges against him.
His case was handled in part by the Connecticut Innocence Project, which has helped free two other men since 2006, the AP reported.
For Pelkey's family, however, Ireland's release has caused a surge of emotion. The Meriden Record-Journal reported that Pelkey's stunned husband, Arthur Pelkey Sr., would wander the streets at night after his wife's death. He committed suicide by drowning in 1991. Pelkey's mother and her sister, Sharon Peirano, helped raise her children.
"All these years we thought we could put it to rest, and now we're reliving it," Sandra Morton, one of Pelkey's sisters, told the Record-Journal earlier this month. "It's like grieving again."
Pelkey's homicide case has been reopened, investigators said.
Ireland's isn't the only murder case cleared by DNA recently. Also on Wednesday, the rape and murder case against Ralph Armstrong ended when a Wisconsin district attorney's office said it would not file an appeal after the charges against Armstrong were dismissed. Armstrong was convicted of the 1980 murder of a University of Wisconsin student, WKOW reported.
Armstrong, 50, still has to answer to a New Mexico court. He was on parole for drug and alcohol convictions there at the time of his murder arrest, and that parole was revoked. His attorney said it is unlikely he will have to serve more time.

Very nice post, Fysty ! it's always so good to see something good in the news and this man evidently deserved justice. Makes one wonder what kind of life he can have after spending 21 years behind bars...........but still better to be proven innocent than to be called a criminal !

Also makes you wonder why it took so long to test the DNA

Michelle wrote:Also makes you wonder why it took so long to test the DNA

Because our legal "system" doesn't always serve justice. Sometimes, they just do not listen. IMO (and experience) it's almost like a money racket. The rich get richer & the poor get poorer. If the person making the decisions that day, wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, or doesn't like the person they are dealing with, they shut you up, do not allow evidence in, that should be in and trample on ones rights.

For instance....Tell me something....

If someone had been charged with a crime & you were called for jury duty, wouldn't YOU want to know if the person "accused" had a long standing restraining order against the "accuser"? THAT is just one example.

How about if the "accuser" had been charged numerous times with domestic violence? Or better yet, how about IF the "accuser" had been previously arrested for filing false police reports?

Not to mention Judges picking and choosing what evidence can or will be allowed to be heard ( sometimes none )............. alot of flaws in our "system".