George Harland Bilger

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Charge:	Murder
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment
Years Imprisoned:	4
Year Crime:	1936
Year Convicted:	1939
Year Cleared:	1941
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Pennsylvania
County or Region of Crime:	Philadelphia
City of Crime:	Philadelphia
Result:	Pardoned
Summary of Case:	"George Harland Bilger was a defendant in same case as Rudolph Sheeler, but they were charged and tried at different times. George Bilger was a mentally slow, 19-year-old who falsely confessed under police pressure to murdering a policeman. During his trial, two eyewitnesses identified him as the man who had held them up. After his conviction and the jury's recommendation for his execution, George Bilger agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of life in prison. The actual murderer was later picked up with the murder weapon, and Bilger was pardoned in 1941."
Conviction Caused By:	"False confession to murdering a policeman, and erroneously identified by two eyewitnesses."
Innocence Proved By:	Actual murderer was found with the murder weapon of Patrolman Morrow. He was killed resisting arrest.
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:	No
Was Perpetrator Identified?	Yes
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"“Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases,” Hugo Adam Bedau & Michael L. Radelet, Stanford Law Review, November, 1987, Vol. 40, p. 97+."
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Information Source 2:	"The Innocents, Edward Radin,William Morrow & Co., 1964, p. 241-242"
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George Harland Bilger

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

4

Year Crime:

1936

Year Convicted:

1939

Year Cleared:

1941

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Pennsylvania

County or Region of Crime:

Philadelphia

City of Crime:

Philadelphia

Result:

Pardoned

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

"False confession to murdering a policeman, and erroneously identified by two eyewitnesses."

Innocence Proved By:

Actual murderer was found with the murder weapon of Patrolman Morrow. He was killed resisting arrest.

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

No

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Yes

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"“Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases,” Hugo Adam Bedau & Michael L. Radelet, Stanford Law Review, November, 1987, Vol. 40, p. 97+."

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"The Innocents, Edward Radin,William Morrow & Co., 1964, p. 241-242"

Information Location 2:

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Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: