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Kenneth York

Incident Date: 6/4/93

Jurisdiction: MO

Charge: Forcible rape, armed criminal action

Conviction: Forcible rape, armed criminal action

Sentence: Life without parole

Year of Conviction: 1994

Exoneration Date: 4/19/10

Sentence Served: 15.5 Years

Real perpetrator found? Not Yet

Contributing Causes: Eyewitness Misidentification

Compensation? Not Yet

The Crime

On June 4, 1993, a 66 year-old widow was raped at knifepoint in her
home in Walker, Missouri. Around the time of the incident, two of the
widow’s neighbors had followed a man as he drove suspiciously away
from their neighborhood and then reported the suspicious driving to
the police. Kenneth York was suspected and was later arrested and
charged for the rape based on the following evidence: York was a
convicted rapist; the victim’s neighbors identified York in a photo
lineup as the man they saw driving suspiciously; the victim herself
identified York in a photo-lineup (after identifying a different man
in an earlier photo-lineup);  and the neighbor’s description of the
suspicious car matched the victim’s description of the car driven by
York’s aunt, was the victim’s newspaper delivery woman.

The Trial
At trial, the only evidence connecting York to the crime was the
testimony of the three identification witnesses. On September 29,
1994, the jury found York guilty of forcible rape and on December 9,
1994, York was sentenced to life without parole.
Release
On April 20, 2010, more than 15 years after he was convicted, the
trial court in Barton County, Missouri vacated York’s conviction after
DNA testing excluded York as the source of the semen recovered from
the victim. York was subsequently released over prosecutor’s
objections.
–Charles Armbrust
Kenneth York

Incident Date: 6/4/93

Jurisdiction: MO

Charge: Forcible rape, armed criminal action

Conviction: Forcible rape, armed criminal action

Sentence: Life without parole

Year of Conviction: 1994

Exoneration Date: 4/19/10

Sentence Served: 15.5 Years

Real perpetrator found? Not Yet

Contributing Causes: Eyewitness Misidentification

Compensation? Not Yet