MESA COUNTY, Colo. — A Colorado man who spent nearly two decades in prison for a crime he didn’t commit was set free on Monday thanks to new DNA evidence.
Robert Dewey was sentenced to life in prison for raping and strangling 19-year-old Jacie Taylor in Palisade, Colo. in 1994.
The case, however, was reopened after a special grant was created from the Colorado Attorney General’s Office which aims to re-examine cases with the latest DNA tracing technology available.
DNA evidence collected at the crime scene was re-examined and pointed to a different suspect.
A warrant for the arrest of Douglas Thames, 39 has been issued. He is already in a Colorado prison serving a sentence for the 1989 murder of a Fort Collins woman.
Dewy has been behind bars for 18 years.
The Mesa County District Attorney’s Office issued an official apology to Robert Dewey during Monday’s court hearing.
Dewey’s attorney says upon his release he’s looking forward to catching up with friends, and he plans on going to North Carolina to get away.
Dewey is single, he at one time did have a son but that child died five years ago.