EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Richard Lapointe, whose conviction in the brutal killing of his wife’s grandmother was overturned after he spent nearly 26 years in prison, has died. He was 74.
Lapointe died at an East Hartford nursing home Tuesday after having battled the coronavirus, said one of his lawyers, W. James Cousins. It was not clear, however, if COVID-19 contributed to his death, Cousins said.
Lapointe, whose lawyers said he had Dandy-Walker syndrome, a congenital brain malformation, was freed from prison in 2015 after the state Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling, overturned his conviction and ordered a new trial in the 1987 stabbing, rape and strangulation of 88-year-old Bernice Martin in Manchester.
“It’s really quite sad that he spent 25 years incarcerated for something he didn’t do, only to spend his last remaining days advancing into dementia and then dying five years after his release,” Cousins said. “The COVID-19 accelerated it dramatically.”
Lapointe was convicted in 1992 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release, with key evidence including confessions he made during a 9 1/2-hour interrogation by Manchester police. His lawyers argued his mental disability made him vulnerable to giving false confessions.
His case became a cause celebre, receiving widespread publicity from advocates for the mentally disabled and celebrities, including writers Arthur Miller and William Styron.
The Supreme Court ruled 4-2 in 2015 that Lapointe was deprived of a fair trial because prosecutors failed to disclose notes by a police officer that may have supported an alibi defense. Later the same year, prosecutors said new DNA testing did not implicate Lapointe and all the charges were dropped.
“Of course I didn’t do it,” Lapointe said shortly after being freed. “That wasn’t me. I wouldn’t do nothing like that to nobody. I wouldn’t even kill my worst enemy.”
Please read our comment policy before commenting.