Death Row Scot to face Ohio murder retrial

A Scottish man man held on Death Row in Ohio since 1987  is to be retried over the death of a two-year-old girl killed in an …

A Scottish man man held on Death Row in Ohio since 1987  is to be retried over the death of a two-year-old girl killed in an Ohio fire 19 years ago.

Kenneth Richey's murder conviction was overturned by an appeals court in April, giving the state 90 days to retry him or set him free.

Putnam County prosecutor, Gary Lammers, said: "It is my decision that there is sufficient evidence to seek new charges against Mr Richey and to proceed to retry him again for this horrible crime.

"The evidence supports that Mr Richey set the fire that callously ended this little girl's life."

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Richey has protested his innocence ever since he was sentenced to death in 1987.

Mr Lammers said he had reviewed the evidence and consulted investigators who worked on the case and witnesses who testified in the original trial.

He had also spoken to the family of young Cynthia Collins who died from smoke inhalation when a blaze broke out in her Ohio flat.

"I have heard their comments and voices for their loved one, lost so young, and regarding their feelings for what is just in this case," he said.

Richey's fiancee, Karen Torley, said she was not surprised by the decision.

"I am fine, we did not fear a retrial," she said. "I know Kenny's name will be cleared."

PA