A Hawaii man who spent more than 20 years in prison for the killing and rape of a tourist has been released because of new evidence
Albert"Ian" Schweitzer, left, hugs his mother, Linda, moments after a judge ordered him released from prison, in Hilo, Hawaii, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023. The judge's ruling came immediately after Schweitzer's attorneys presented new evidence and argued that Schweitzer didn’t commit the crimes he was convicted of and spent more than 20 years locked up for: the 1991 murder, kidnapping and sexual assault of a woman visiting Hawaii.
The new evidence, thanks to advances in DNA testing, included a finding that a T-shirt discovered nearby and soaked with Ireland's blood belonged to an unknown man, and not Schweitzer or the two others convicted of killing her. Innocence Project attorneys in Hawaii and New York filed a petition late Monday outlining the new evidence and seeking Schweitzer's release. They are also studying a Hawaii statute that would let him collect $50,000 for every year he was behind bars.
Attorneys are now turning to exonerating the other two. They include Schweitzer’s younger brother Shawn, who took a guilty plea deal after his brother was convicted in 2000 and sentenced to 130 years.
But he was interviewed at least seven times and gave inconsistent accounts each time. When it was clear he would be indicted along with the Schweitzers, he tried to take it all back and said he had lied to try to get drug charges dropped against his half-brother. Martin Tankleff knows how Schweitzer feels. He was wrongly convicted of murdering his parents on Long Island, New York, and was released in 2007 after 17 years in prison.
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