CORSICANA (February 11, 2013)—Randolph Arledge, 58, who spent half his life in prison for a murder that DNA testing now indicates he didn’t commit, was freed Monday by State District Judge James Lagomarsino in Corsicana.
Arledge was convicted of murder in 1984 in the death of Carolyn Armstrong, who was stabbed more than 40 times and then dumped on a dirt road.
He was sentenced to 99 years in prison.
But prosecutors and Arledge's attorneys with the national Innocence Project agreed that Arledge should be released after DNA tests on a hairnet found in Armstrong's car proved a near-perfect match for another man, who's still at large.
Lagomarsino agreed with the attorneys' recommendations, which must be approved by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
Arledge also served time for armed robbery in an unrelated case during the same period he was imprisoned for the murder.
