FL - Ada Jankowski, 58, brutally murdered, Miramar, 5 Nov 1983

[impatientredhead]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hTn3BWjyk73pWLLA_7ABzLe8etxQD9AK1HI80

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida man was set to be released from prison this week after his defense says DNA evidence shows he was wrongly convicted of murder and rape 26 years ago.
Forty-one-year-old Anthony Caravella was found guilty in the 1983 attack and sentenced to life in prison. Caravella, who is mentally disabled, was 15 at the time.
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty for Caravella, who was accused of raping, strangling and stabbing 58-year-old Ada Cox Jankowski. She was found dead near a Miramar elementary school.
His defense says new DNA tests exclude him as the suspect.
Caravella is expected to be released this week. He confessed to the crime, but his attorney says police beat him to coerce the admission. Prosecutors did not immediately have comment.

 

[Vegas Bride]

Now what I want to know is, with the dna, will they be able to find the person who actually did this?
How horrible that an innocent man was locked up all these years, I hope he has some chance for peace and happiness now.

VB

 

[txsvicki]

How horribly sad for the little mentally disabled teen who has spent his whole life in prison. Hopefully he was not abused and was at least able to get some help while in that awful place that he did not belong.

 

[butwhatif?]

How horribly sad for the little mentally disabled teen who has spent his whole life in prison. Hopefully he was not abused and was at least able to get some help while in that awful place that he did not belong.

Unfortunately thats unlikely- he would have been a perfect target for the sickos in there. In fact I would go so far as to say his victimisation behind bars was likely more extreme that the victim he was falsely convicted of raping.

Thanks for posting this one, impatientredhed.
These victms deserve our attention as much as any others we follow and sleuth here.
And the failure to catch the real perp, allowed a rapist to roam free and commit who knows how many more crimes.

 

[STEADFAST]

Unfortunately thats unlikely- he would have been a perfect target for the sickos in there. In fact I would go so far as to say his victimisation behind bars was likely more extreme that the victim he was falsely convicted of raping.

Thanks for posting this one, impatientredhed.
These victms deserve our attention as much as any others we follow and sleuth here.
And the failure to catch the real perp, allowed a rapist to roam free and commit who knows how many more crimes.

I agree with everything you wrote, butwhatif, except the part about what he probably experienced behind bars being probably worse than being raped, strangled and stabbed. However, I'm sure he has experienced much brutality and, being a victim of the system, he will never have justice for this, just like there will be no justice for the original victim whose rapist/murderer has gone unpunished all this time.

 

[KarlK]

Now what I want to know is, with the dna, will they be able to find the person who actually did this?

Unless the perp's DNA is already in the system, that's quite unlikely. Even honest LE officers will not readily re-investigate old cases when police misconduct during the original investigation is suspected. No one wants to be ostracized for stirring up old misdeeds when it can be avoided and that's perfectly understandable. That said it sometimes happens that, for various reasons (political ambition, righteousness, personal convictions, media pressure, etc.), a DA or state attorney will want to revive such a case. In that case police don't have much of a choice but full cooperation is not guaranteed, especially if they think the DA or state attorney is politically motivated. See what happened in Illinois under Ryan.

IMHO the best thing to do at the present time is for the authorities to quietly settle for a substantial compensation package with the wrongly convicted man so that he can live out his life without financial worries. He earned it.

 

[OkieGranny]

From February 2015:

http://www.mintpressnews.com/police...man-rape-murder-ordered-pay-7-million/201898/

Antony Caravella had to wait 26 years for justice. The 46-year-old was wrongfully imprisoned after being framed by two Miramar police officers for the rape and murder of 58-year old Ada Cox Jankowski.

Jankowski was in fact brutally raped and stabbed over a dozen times, but the mentally challenged Caravella had nothing to do with the crimes against her. Still, back in 1983, Caravella framed by two police officers William Mantesta and George Pierson.

Caravella was released from prison back in September 2009 and was cleared of any and all involvement through DNA testing. But now, a federal appeals court has ruled Officers Mantesta and Pierson, must pay Caravella $7 million directly. That’s right, the city is not being told to foot the bill for these rogue officers: they are being told to pay Caravella themselves.

 

[MsFacetious]

Wow! That is awesome that they are making the officers pay it!
Now can we force them to find the real perp too?
I bet they don't want to to know... because those victims families could sue them too.