Kentucky State Police has settled a wrongful conviction lawsuit with a woman who contended she could not have killed her boyfriend more than two decades ago because she is an amputee who would not have been able to throw a body into a river.
Susan Jean King served eight years in prison for the 1998 slaying of Kyle “Deanie” Breeden before another man confessed to the crime and her conviction was overturned, news outlets have reported.
King’s case against the state agency was dismissed in U.S. District Court this month after State Police agreed to pay $750,000 in damages, WDRB-TV reported Thursday, citing King’s attorneys.
King argued in her lawsuit that there was no way she could have killed Breeden because she weighed just over 100 pounds (45 kilograms) and had her left leg amputated at the hip, leaving her on crutches or in a wheelchair with no prosthetic. She maintained could not have dragged a 187-pound (85-kilogram) man to a bridge and thrown him into the Kentucky River.
Kentucky State Police maintained there was no wrongdoing by the department, but King’s attorneys alleged the investigation was marked by errors, false evidence and coverups.
King pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2008 despite asserting her innocence. Her charges were dismissed in 2014, two years after Richard Jarrell allegedly confessed to the killing, news outlets said.
Jarrell later recanted his confession, though the lead investigator was accused of forcing it, according to a separate lawsuit.
WDRB says a Kentucky State Police spokesman did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
The Associated Press
