Longest-Ever Wrongfully Incarcerated Woman In US History Awarded £2.5 Million

A woman who spent 35 years in prison for a murder she didn't commit has been awarded $3 million (£2.5m) in compensation.

In 1980, Cathy Woods, 68, was convicted of the 1976 murder of 19-year-old Michelle Mitchell, but she was released in 2015 after DNA on a cigarette butt found at the scene linked the crime with Rodney Halbower, who has since been convicted of two killings.

Ms Woods' lawyer Elizabeth Wang said she will continue to seek further damages from the city of Reno and claims detectives coerced a confession from Woods while she was a patient at a Louisiana mental hospital.

Wang said: "Although no amount of money will compensate Ms Woods for what she endured, this will go at least some way toward providing care for her."

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Speaking in 2014, Washoe County public defender Maizie Pusich said Ms Woods didn't remember confessing to the murder.

According to the Los Angeles Times, he said: "I'm told it was a product of wanting to get a private room. She was being told she wasn't sufficiently dangerous to qualify, and within a short period she was claiming she had killed a woman in Reno."

In a statement, Washoe County apologised to Ms Woods for her loss of freedom.

It said: "The conviction and subsequent incarceration of Woods for murder is a tragic situation that Washoe County hopes is never repeated.

"While money can rarely compensate an individual for loss of freedom, Washoe County sincerely hopes that this monetary settlement will be utilised for the best possible care of Woods."

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Woods - who now lives with relatives in Washington - is the longest-ever wrongfully incarcerated woman in US history, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.

Ms Woods initial conviction was overturned by Nevada's Supreme Court, but she was convicted once again in 1984, with the high court upholding this conviction in 1988.

However, Ms Woods was exonerated for good when DNA technology - that was reportedly previously unavailable - linked the murder of Mitchell with Halbower, who is otherwise known as the 'Gypsy Hills Killer'.

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According to the Los Angeles Times, the police believes Halbower was responsible for the rape and killing of six women and girls. However, he was only charged with the murder of 17-year-old Paula Baxter and 18-year-old Veronica Cascio, and was sentenced to life in prison last year.

Topics: US News, crime

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey