More than four years after Richard Lapointe’s death, his family will receive nearly $5.9 million from Connecticut for his wrongful, quarter-century imprisonment that ended in 2015 when his conviction was overturned for the rape and killing of his wife’s 88-year-old grandmother. The case became a cause celebre, receiving widespread publicity from advocates for the disabled and celebrities, including writers Arthur Miller and William Styron, who backed his release. Lapointe, who died at 74 in 2020, had Dandy-Walker syndrome, a rare congenital brain malformation that his lawyers believe was a factor in his falsely confessing to the crime, reports the Associated Press. The award by the state claims commissioner’s office, which must be approved by the legislature, was issued after years of legal battles between Lapointe’s lawyers and the state attorney general’s office.
“The award is by no means adequate compensation for what was done to Richard Lapointe,” said his attorney, Paul Casteleiro. He said the state destroyed his life “for a crime he did not commit.” Bernice Martin, the grandmother of Lapointe’s wife, was found stabbed, raped and strangled in 1987 in her burning apartment in Manchester, 10 miles east of Hartford. Lapointe, a dishwasher, was convicted of murder in 1992 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release, with key evidence including confessions during a 9 1/2-hour interrogation police. His lawyers argued his mental disability made him vulnerable to giving false confessions, and alleged the confession was coerced without any defense lawyers present. The state Supreme Court ruled 4-2 in 2015 that Lapointe was deprived of a fair trial because prosecutors failed to disclose notes by a police officer that may have supported an alibi defense. Later, prosecutors said new DNA testing did not implicate Lapointe and charges were dropped. After he was released from prison, Lapointe began suffering from dementia, was placed in a nursing home in and died after a bout with COVID-19.