Couple’s custody battle leads wife to frame man

By Peter Kimani

Stepping out in a sombrero, rugged beard and soft, barely audible voice, Albert Burrell, appears miscast for the role he is alleged to have played in a place called Angola.

No, this is not the southern Africa State bearing the same name; this refers to the Louisiana Township that woke up to the gruesome find of elderly couple savaged more than 20 years ago.

Burrell, was arrested on suspect testimony from his wife, from whom he had separated from, and was tussling with over the custody of their children. His ex-wife also feared she might lose her children to the State. Having the man in jail meant less competition.

The other prosecution witness in the case turned out to be a con artist who had been given reprieve by police on previous charges on account of insanity – but was sane enough to testify in the murder case!

Still, the testimony of the two was enough to consign Burrell, the other suspect, to the death row. In 1996, Burrell came within 17 days of a scheduled execution.

His attorney managed to secure a stay of execution. Since no physical evidence had been found to link the two to the murders, lawyers perusing prosecution notes found the police had expressed misgivings about the case from very early on, but still decided to prosecute.

Cracks in the case started emerging because key witnesses’ credibility was questionable. Burrell’s ex-wife, Jane, recanted her evidence severally.

She is reported to have written to the two inmates in prison saying she was sorry for her role in their conviction. She recanted her testimony, withdrew her recantation, before recanting once more.

Even with such somersaults, the witness statements kept Burrell and his co-accused in death row for 13 years, during which time lawyers sought to overturn conviction.

A prosecutor would later admit the case was too weak and "should never have been brought to the grand jury" due to "total lack of credible evidence".

Subsequently, DNA tests disproved that the blood at the crime scene belonged to Burrell or his-accused, which paved the way for their ultimate release in January 2001.

"I didn’t have anything to do with that," Burrell says about the double murder that stole 13 years from him and cast him very near the valley of death.

His release was no less dramatic: A denim jacket several sizes bigger than his slight frame was offered by prison authorities, and a $10 (Sh100) check for the fare home.

Since his release, Burrell has been active in the movement against the death penalty with other exonerated former death row prisoners.

"She always lied. I just know she was wrong for what she did," Burrell told a Texas newspaper about his wife’s fabrications.

Burrell has since tried to build life anew, but the stigma of his incarceration has cast long shadows over his life, a decade since leaving the valley of death.