A man is finally free after spending 23 years of his life on death row for a crime he did not commit, the New York Times reports.
When Walter Ogrod was 23 years old, the body of four-year-old Barbara Jean Horn was found near his home in Philadelphia back in July of 1988. Horn was found by a neighbor in a TV box left on a curbside about 1000 feet from her home. Her body had head wounds and had been partially wrapped in a garbage bag.
More on the historic case of Barbara Jean Horn below:Four years later, Ogrod was arrested and subsequently found guilty of sexually assaulting and murdering the girl.
However, a judge has overturned the convictions after Ogrod's lawyers argued they were corrupted by police withholding evidence, detectives coercing a false and inaccurate confession, and fabricated statements from jailhouse informants.
The Times also states that eyewitness accounts of a man who left the child's remains in a box did not match Ogrod's appearance at the time.
As a result, Ogrod has had his charges reduced and has been granted bail.
Upon being released from the Phoenix State Correctional Institution on Friday, the now-55-year-old Ogrod was greeted by a group of around 10 friends and family.
He was photographed having to steady himself on a parked car after becoming so overwhelmed with emotion.
Ogrod's lawyer, James Rollins, said that the first place he would be attending was a relative’s backyard barbecue. Rollins added: "[Ogrod] was very pleased and relieved to be out of prison. He is very tired."
According to a news release, Prosecutor Carrie Wood told Ogrod at a hearing on Friday:
"I’m sorry it took 28 years for us to listen to what Barbara Jean was trying to tell us: that you are innocent, and that the words of your statement of confession came from Philadelphia Police detectives and not you."
Ogrod still faces a small chance of a third trial. But both prosecutors and Ogrod's lawyers agree that there is no physical evidence linking him to Barbara Jean Horn.
Ogrod's first trial ended in a mistrial when one juror announced that he did not agree with the not guilty verdict just as the foreman was about to announce it.
Nevertheless, Ogrod was later convicted during a second trial in 1996 of first-degree murder and attempted involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.
His lawyers said Friday that they are unsure whether authorities have identified a different suspect in the case.
Rollins added: "Walter Ogrod’s case is impossibly tragic. This innocent man and his family lost almost 30 years that they should have spent together. Instead, that irreplaceable time together is gone, lost to a system that keeps making the same mistakes."
