Connecticut Man Freed After Wrongful Rape and Murder Conviction. Awarded $6 million by State

Kenneth Ireland (pictured), 44, was awarded $6million from the state of Connecticut after being wrongly jailed for 21 years.

[From article]
A man who was wrongfully imprisoned for 21 years for the rape and murder of a mother of four was awarded $6million from the state of Connecticut.


Mr Ireland was imprisoned at the age of 18 for the rape and murder of Barbara Pelkey (left) and was released in 2009 after the Connecticut Innocence Project reviewed his case and initiated new DNA testing.

Kenneth Ireland, 44, was jailed when he was 18 and released in 2009 after DNA tests proved another man fatally beat and raped 30-year-old Barbara Pelkey in Wallingford.
The other man, Kevin Benefield, is serving a 60-year prison sentence for killing the mother-of-four.


Kevin Benefield was found guilty for the murder and is now serving a 60-year prison sentence.

Mr Ireland was issued the award yesterday under Connecticut's wrongful incarceration compensation law.
State claims commissioner J. Paul Vance Jr issued the award to Mr Ireland and said in a report: 'No words or dollar amount will suffice to give him back the time that he lost and the misery that he endured.
'Mr. Ireland was wrongfully convicted and was labeled a murderer and sex offender and was forced to spend a long portion of his life in maximum security prisons.
'He experienced 21 years of violence, sleepless nights and the constant fear and hopelessness that he would die in prison as an innocent man.'
The new DNA testing came after the Connecticut Innocence Project, which looks into potentially wrong convictions, began reviewing Ireland's case in 2007
[. . .]
In 1987 two people came forward to the police and said Mr Ireland and another man had made incriminating statements regarding their involvement in Mrs Pelkey's murder.
A third person came forward a few months later and said Mr Ireland had confessed to the killing.
The third witness later admitted she was drunk at the time and may have imagined that the statements were made.
Mr Ireland was charged based on these witness statements.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2932162/Connecticut-man-wrongly-jailed-21-years-gets-6M-award.html

Connecticut man gets $6m award after being wrongly jailed for 21 YEARS for rape and murder
Kenneth Ireland, 44, was freed in 2009 after DNA tests cleared him of killing mother-of-four Barbara Pelkey
Was exonerated after Connecticut Innocence Project reviewed his case
Mr Ireland said he plans to travel and 'see things I've missed'
First award under state's wrongful incarceration compensation law
By ANNETA KONSTANTINIDES FOR MAILONLINE and ASSOCIATED PRESS
PUBLISHED: 19:18 EST, 29 January 2015 | UPDATED: 14:36 EST, 30 January 2015