NY - Mom Exonerated After 13 Years in Prison

FLMom

Former Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2007
Messages
1,160
Reaction score
21
(I did a search and didn't see the names of the family listed anywhere. I remember hearing about this story years ago. What an update. . . .)

Mom Exonerated After 13 Years in Prison
Mother Exonerated Before Retrial in Girl's Death; She Already Spent 13 Years in Prison

A woman who spent 13 years in prison after being convicted of strangling her 13-year-old daughter has been exonerated by forensic evidence showing she died of a cocaine overdose, a prosecutor in the case said Wednesday.

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/wireStory?id=4287436
 
Wow, what a story. She's absolutely convinced her daughter was murdered!

Prosecutors had been planning to retry her this spring, saying the DNA found in her daughter's body and bed did nothing to refute the circumstantial evidence that led a jury to convict DeJac of killing the girl after a night of heavy drinking.

It was in reviewing evidence for the upcoming trial that the prosecution's forensics experts made the stunning find that the girl died of "acute cocaine intoxication" and was not slain, Erie County District Attorney Frank Clark announced.
 
I didn't read far enough before posting! The former boyfriend is waiting trial for strangling another woman and has immunity in Crystallynn's case for testifying against the mother, who is now exonerated. :eek: :eek: :eek:

Wow what a case.


All charges against DeJac will be dismissed, Clark said.

Donahue remains in custody awaiting trial in the strangulation of a woman in 1993 and has been described as a person of interest in a 1975 strangling. He couldn't have been prosecuted in Crystallynn's case anyway because he had immunity for testifying against DeJac in 1993.

An emotional DeJac said she was relieved to be cleared of the charges but remained convinced that Donahue killed her daughter. And she said she would do "anything and everything" to clear Crystallynn's name.
 
(Here's another site. . . on the bottom right is a listing of different articles. Despite not being put on trial again, I'm having a hard time formulating a sentence for the mother and the home life she made for Crystallynn without violating the TOS. ETA: if you read the articles and google this poor girl, you'll see what I mean. )

For Lynn DeJac, freedom is bittersweet

Mother insists Crystallynn was not a drug user

There will be no retrial. The charges are being dropped. Lynn DeJac was officially a free woman. But it was bittersweet news for the 43-year-old woman who spent more than 13 years in prison for the death of her daughter.

http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/275967.html
 
My city of Buffalo seems to have a propensity for sending innocent people to jail. I wonder how many other cases there are.
 
While this woman definitely was not "mother of the year" as previously mentioned, and I agree with the few things I have read...how sad that she had to endure 13 yrs of god knows what while in prison for something she did not do! It breaks my heart to read or hear of a father/mother harming or worse yet killing their children and there is always a part of me that just doesn't want to believe it when I do hear it. It seems to be the case so often nowadays...anyways, I guess at least in this case I can't help but be glad to hear it wasn't the mother!
 
This case has more twists and turns ....

http://s2.excoboard.com/exco/thread.php?forumid=124688&threadid=1740866

The Giambra case is the third murder that Donahue has been tied to by police:

# The first is the 1975 murder of Carol Reed.
Buffalo police have named Donahue as a person of interest in that case.

# The second: the 1993 murder of Crystalynn Girard. Buffalo cold case detectives say they're 100-percent convinced that Donahue committed the crime, not the girl's mother, Lynn DeJac who has spent the last 13 years in prison for the crime.

# The third case is the Giambra murder, which also took place in 1993, following the murder of Crystalynn Girard.

Police sources have told us there are a number of similarities in all three cases:

# Donahue personally knew all three victims;
# All three were strangled;
# And all were found nude, on their backs, and had been sexually assaulted.
 
Shouldn't the coroner who did her autopsy know whether she died of a drug overdose or strangulation?
 
Sounds like someone is sliping to me. That would be the nightmare to be in jail for that long for killing your daughter and you did not do it and know who did it. WOW!!! I hope has a much better life now.
 
Sounds like someone is sliping to me. That would be the nightmare to be in jail for that long for killing your daughter and you did not do it and know who did it. WOW!!! I hope has a much better life now.

I never understood why people can testify against someone when they have a stake in the outcome.
 
I dont understand that one either. It is all the dealing the do. I dont understand our system at all!!!
 
This Donahue guy sounds like a serial killer. There's at least 3 victims. He must have turned states evidence against the mother for immunity.
While she wasn't mother of the year, she is very remorseful for leaving her daughter home alone with him.
She served 13 years in a women's maximum security prison and is innocent, yet upon being released her main focus is to clear her daughter's name and catch the man responsible. I hope they get this Donahue guy before he kills again.
Some of these cases where people involved or codefendents turn states' evidence against others can have messed up and serious outcomes if the others were innocent or not as involved.
I know of a murder case in FL in which 5 young people killed a man over drug money; there was one girl involved and she got life even though it was her first offense; her boyfriend at the time got life also, and the 3 other males involved who had turned states evidence got terms of 15-25 years. Even though all had a part in it.
 
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--motherexonerated0403apr03,0,4611874.story

But ultimately, it was not the DNA that cleared her of charges. While that was enough for a judge to set aside DeJac's conviction, it was not enough for District Attorney Frank Clark to drop the charges.

He finally relented only after forensics experts preparing for the retrial stumbled upon a finding that would remove all doubt about DeJac's innocence. It is the very finding DeJac will not accept: Crystallynn overdosed on cocaine.

"It's not going to stay like this," DeJac said on a day she called "bittersweet."

"My daughter was not a drug user ... My daughter was murdered," she said. "There's no question my daughter was murdered."
---------
DeJac has believed from the start that killer is the man whose DNA was found in Crystallynn's bed and body, a former boyfriend named Dennis Donohue. A man who can never be charged.
 
The following is a comment with the above ABC News post by FLMom:

Lynn Dejac deserved to spend every day in prison that she did. I am appauled and outraged that she was released and is now sueing the state. She doesn't deserve a penny. You all don't know anything about Lynn. When my father called me to tell me that my step-sister was murdered, I immediately stated Lynn did it. It came as no surprise that she was convicted. I hope Erie Counrty will retry her for the muder and the jury will return a guilty verdict once again. What kind of mother will leave a 13 year unattended while out drinking and home alone all night? She never cared about Chrystal and had abandoned her to go live in Reno, NV. Don't let Lynn fool you, she is manipulative and kiniving. All of you who are giving her sympathy are a pawn in her game and not all of the facts were given, only a portion of the bigger picture has been showed. Has anyone stopped to think that Dennis' DNA could have been planted? He was Lynn's boyfriend and Lynn resented Chrystal. My step sister is the victim not Lynn.
Posted by:
sin_of_sorrowzApr-5

There are many angles to this story; it may not be over yet.
 
Wow ... just wow .... I'm glad you caught that post noZme, more food for thought on this terrible case.
 
I might believe that the DNA was planted if there weren't two other victims. I think everyone will agree that she wasn't a good mother. But she may have been a victim of Donohue too. She did spend 13 years in prison for a crime she didn't commit. If she was that bad of a Mother why didin't the father try to get custody? If he did try and the Judge didn't allow it than the court is partially responsible for her death. Crystallyn was truly the victim!
 
i live in Buffalo ... most people up here are convinced the DA is just trying to cover his own butt my saying the little girl died from a drug overdose.
 
ok, she leaves her daughter (13) home alone to drink, does she know the boyfriend is there? If so, what did she THINK could happen? I mean really you do NOT leave 13 year old girls alone like that. I was 13 once, kwim?
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
178
Guests online
2,291
Total visitors
2,469

Forum statistics

Threads
589,984
Messages
17,928,651
Members
228,032
Latest member
Taylor Sage
Back
Top