| Summary |
"Wrongly convicted of raping and murdering 15 year old Dorothy Drain on August 15, 1936 in Pueblo, CO. Joe Arridy was arrested for loitering in the Union Pacific RR yard in Pueblo, CO on Aug. 26, 1936. At that time the police had who they were sure was the murderer in custody - Frank Aguilar - based on circumstantial and physical evidence of his guilt. During a search of his home a hatchet was discovered. "The hatchet, although washed of blood, had peculiar nicks in it which added another link to the chain of evidence. Photographs were made of the wounds on the Drain girl's head and were enlarged to actual size. The photographs plainly showed the marks left by the nicks in the hatchet matched perfectly." Deadly Innocent? at p. 53. After his arrest, and without having benefit of a lawyer to monitor his questioning by the police, Arridy confessed to murdering Dorothy Drain, although there was evidence whatsoever he was involved, and the sheriff cadidly admitted that he was "undoubtedly insane." Only after Arridy's confession, did Aguilar confess and say that he didn't act alone. The two men had separate trials. Aguilar was convicted, sentenced to death on Feb. 3, 1937, and executed on Aug. 13, 1937. Arridy's was convicted and sentenced to death on June 25, 1937. He was executed on January 6, 1939. The warden believed he was innocent and quietly worked in the background to get his sentence commutted up to the time of his execution. There was never any physical or circumstancial evidence presented that implicated Arridy Dorothy Drain's rape and murder - only his plainly suspect confession - and everyone involved readily acknowledged that he was not a mental sound person. He was highly suggestible and nothing he said was reliable" |