Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Joe Arridy

 

Charge:

First Degree Murder

Sentence:

Death and Executed

Years Imprisoned:

Year Crime:

1936

Year Convicted:

1937

Year Cleared:

2011

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Colorado

County or Region of Crime:

Pueblo

City of Crime:

Pueblo

Result:

Pardoned Posthumously After Execution

Summary of Case:

"Joe Arridy was wongly convicted of raping and murdering 15 year old Dorothy Drain on August 15, 1936 in Pueblo, CO. 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 in 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. Arridy was posthumously pardoned on January 7, 2011 by Colorado Governor Bill Ritter on the basis of the evidence he was actually innocent of the crime. "

Conviction Caused By:

False confession to murder

Innocence Proved By:

"Executed before he could be judicially exonerated. Arridy was posthumously pardoned on January 7, 2011 by Colorado Governor Bill Ritter on the basis of the evidence he was actually innocent of the crime."

Defendant Aided By:

Investigation by Robert Perske many years after his execution

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Yes

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"72 Years after Execution, a Posthumous Pardon," 9News.com, January 8, 2011)"

Information Location 1:

http://www.9news.com/rss/article.aspx?storyid=174264

Information Source 2:

"GOV. RITTER GRANTS POSTHUMOUS PARDON IN CASE DATING BACK TO 1930s, Press Release, OFFICE OF GOV. BILL RITTER, JR., January 7, 2011"

Information Location 2:

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/ArridyPardon.pdf

Information Source 3:

"Deadly Innocence?, Robert Perski, Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1995"

Information Location 3:

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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org

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