© AP
Daniel Gwynn, 54, of Philadelphia, who was sentenced to death, has been released after 30 years. He was held responsible for the death of a woman in a fire in 1994.
Source: De Telegraaf
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The then 25-year-old American was said to have been recognized by the police from a series of photos of suspects. It has now emerged that his photo never appeared in the series. Gwynn was never able to see the photos herself because the Public Prosecution Service allegedly lost the photos. The Public Prosecution Service even maintained for decades that the photos did not exist at all.
When Gwynn’s sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 2020, the entire criminal file was handed over to the defense. This turned out to contain the long-lost photos and Gwynn was not among them. It also turned out that another suspect in the deadly fire had never been investigated. He had threatened to burn down the building three days earlier. Partly because of this, Gwynn was released and the other man is now the main suspect.
It is hard for Gwynn to imagine that he is now free, his lawyers say. He started painting in prison and his work has recently been exhibited. “Painting has been my therapy, a form of meditation that helps to process my problems,” he said.