A man in California will receive $21 million (£16m) after serving 39 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit, in what will be the longest prison term to be overturned in the state.
Craig Richard Coley was wrongfully incarcerated for the 1978 murders of ex-girlfriend, Rhonda Wicht, and her four-year-old son, Donald.
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The Navy veteran was released in 2017 after his case had been reopened by the Simi Valley Police Department, who had also sought help from Ventura County District Attorney Gregory Totten.
Last year the California Victim Compensation Board awarded Coley almost $2m (£1.5m) in compensation, amounting to $140 (£107) for each of the 13,991 days he was in prison.
Coley then filed a federal civil rights lawsuit some months later, and on Saturday 23 February, Simi Valley announced it would settle the lawsuit and give Coley $21m for his 39 years behind bars.
"While no amount of money can make up for what happened to Mr Coley, settling this case is the right thing to do for Mr Coley and our community," City Manager Eric Levitt said.
"The monetary cost of going to trial would be astronomical and it would be irresponsible for us to move forward in that direction."
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According to CNN, Simi Valley will pay around $4.9m (£3.7m) to Coley, while the rest of the money will come from insurance and 'other sources'.
24-year-old Wicht and her son were found murdered in their home on 11 November 1978. Coley, who was a 31-year-old restaurant manager, was thought to be in the midst of breaking up with her at the time.
Coley would then spend the next four decades in prison, despite denying the crimes and always maintaining his innocence.
In 2017, investigators in Simi Valley found 'biological samples' - which the judge presiding over Coley's case had ordered to be destroyed in 1980 - at a private laboratory.
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In a statement, the district attorney's office said: "A key piece of evidence used to convict (the) defendant was found to not contain his DNA, but to instead contain the DNA of other individuals."
Coley spent his first Thanksgiving out of prison with Simi Valley police detective Michael Bender, who had been convinced of Coley's innocence.
"There was nobody else there to fight for the guy, so I just continued the fight," Bender told CNN last year.
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"It was the right thing to do."
Featured Image Credit: PA