Outgoing Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter has granted a posthumous pardon to Joe Arridy, a mentally disabled man who was executed for murder more than 70 years ago, despite evidence suggesting his innocence. "The tragic conviction of Mr. Arridy and his subsequent execution ... merit such relief based on the great likelihood that Mr. Arridy was, in fact, innocent of the crime for which he was executed and his severe mental disability at the time of his trial and execution," Ritter said.
In 1936, someone entered the Pueblo home of 15-year-old Dorothy Drain and her 12-year-old sister, Barbara, while their parents were at a dance. Both girls were attacked with a hatchet. Dorothy's injuries proved to be fatal, but her sister somehow survived the attack, according to the 1995 book "Deadly Innocence?"
Museum of Colorado Prisons / friendsofjoearridy.com Joe Arridy, shown in a police mug shot, had an IQ of 46.In the days that followed, investigators arrested 35-year-old Frank Aguilar, a Mexican native who had recently been fired by the girls' father, Riley Drain, who was a supervisor for the Works Progress Administration. Aguilar had reportedly been acting suspiciously, and when authorities searched his home, they found a hatchet with several large nicks, which was consistent with the girls' injuries.
Authorities had means, motive and opportunity, but they were lacking a confession.
During this time, investigators in Cheyenne, Wyo., were questioning Arridy. The 20-year-old, who had an IQ of 46 and behaved more like a child than a man, had been picked up by railroad detectives in East Cheyenne for wandering around a rail yard.
While Arridy was in custody, Laramie County Sheriff George J. Carroll learned that he was a recent escapee from the Colorado State Home and Training School for Mental Defectives at Grand Junction. Carroll was also aware of the recent homicide in Colorado.
"Carroll claimed Joe confessed to beating Dorothy with a club," Robert Perske, a former Colorado minister and "Deadly Innocence?" author, told AOL News. "He said Joe admitted to killing and raping the girl, so the sheriff called .....
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