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A New York man who spent 18 years in prison for a murder he said he did not commit was found not guilty in a second trial. Paul Scrimo, 66, was acquitted Thursday in Nassau County Court of the death by strangulation of Ruth Williams in 2000, reported Newsday.Scrimo was convicted of murder in 2002, but an appeals court overturned condemned him in 2019, saying that Scrimo had been denied a fair trial.
NEW YORK — A New York man who spent 18 years in prison for a murder he said he did not commit was found not guilty in a second trial.
Paul Scrimo, 66, was acquitted Thursday in Nassau County Court of the 2000 strangulation death of Ruth Williams, reported Newsday.
Scrimo was convicted of murder in 2002, but an appeals court overturned condemned him in 2019, saying that Scrimo had been denied a fair trial.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said in its ruling that the DNA under the victim’s fingernails was not Scrimo’s.
Scrimo said his acquittal after a trial that began Sept. 18 will give him a chance to make up for lost time with his family.
“I missed all the graduations, all the weddings,” said Scrimo, married and father of three. “The children always loved me. They never said, ‘Dad, you weren’t here.’ With my wife… this has hurt her. But she’s a good girl and I’m going to make it up to her forever.”
Scrimo was accused of strangling Williams inside her Long Island apartment on April 12, 2000. According to Newsday, prosecutors in both trials said Scrimo killed Williams after she made derogatory comments about his wife.
Scrimo maintained that a friend who was present with Scrimo when Williams died was the killer. The friend was never charged in the case.
Brendan Brosh, a spokesman for Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly, said in a statement: “We respect the verdict.”
2023-09-29 19:15:16
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