Luis Vargas was in 1999 sentenced to 55-years-in-prison after a court convicted him of over 30 rapes in Los Angeles. And he's been in prison since then until yesterday, Monday 23rd November as DNA evidence linked the rape he was convicted of to the so-called "teardrop rapist" who has eluded the authorities.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Ryan
exonerated Luis Vargas. The“teardrop rapist” is suspected of more than 30 rapes in
the Los Angeles area since 1996 and has never been identified or arrested.
The
teardrop rapist gained his nickname for a teardrop tattoo under his
eye.
Vargas,
lived near the area where several assaults took place and was
misidentified as the rapist because he has a similar teardrop tattoo.
Vargas, who has maintained his innocence, reached out to lawyers and students at the California Innocence Project at California Western School of Law.
He told them he believed the teardrop rapist committed the assaults of
which he was convicted, according to AP. The group took up Vargas’ case
in 2012.
After his name was cleared, Vargas, 46, was taken back
into custody because his green card was revoked when he was convicted of
the crimes.
This is really sad, to stay in prison for 16 years for nothing. Luckily there are DNA tests now, so at least he will not spend a lifetime there. By the way, did you know what countries have the highest level of crimes? https://ask.naij.com/politics/which-countries-have-the-highest-rate-of-criminality-i26659.html
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