Former Ohio Captain Exonerated of Wife's Murder

A former Akron (Ohio) Police captain convicted of killing his wife in 1997 has been exonerated by a judge based on new DNA test results.

Doug Prade has served 15 years after a jury convicted him of killing Dr. Margo Prade during a bitter divorce. The conviction was largely based on the testimony of a forensic scientist who said a bite mark on the victim matched Doug Prade.

Summit County Common Pleas Judge Judy Hunter said in a ruling that no jury today would convict Douglas Prade of the slaying in light of the new DNA evidence that ruled out the former police captain.

Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh called Hunter's ruling a "gross misapplication of the law" and vowed to appeal, reports the Beacon Journal.

"The defendant had to present new evidence so convincing that no juror would have found him guilty, and he failed to do so," said Bevan Walsh. "The DNA evidence presented by the Ohio Innocence Project on behalf of Prade is contaminated and unreliable. It does not prove innocence."