HELENA, Mont. (AP) - A man whose conviction for a 1994 murder west of Helena was overturned last week has been released from the prison infirmary in Lewistown.
Department of Corrections spokeswoman Judy Beck says 64-year-old Paul Jenkins was released Tuesday night. He will live with his daughter.
District Judge Kathy Seeley on Friday overturned the convictions and ordered new trials for Jenkins and 56-year-old Freddie Joe Lawrence in the death of Donna Meagher. She ordered their release Tuesday.
Lawrence walked out of prison Tuesday afternoon.
The Montana Innocence Project worked on their cases. A recent test on a rope found at the murder scene included DNA that matches convicted killer David Wayne Nelson.
The attorney general’s office requested a status hearing in six weeks, by which point they expect to decide whether to re-file the charges.
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