WARSAW, Ind. (AP) — A mentally disabled man alleging he was coerced into confessing to a 2002 murder of a Indiana woman was released from prison after a judge granted his request for a new trial.
The South Bend Tribune reports that Andy Royer was released Thursday.
Kosciusko Superior Court Judge Joe Sutton ordered Tuesday that Royer be freed on recognizance, meaning he does not have to post bail.
Royer and Lana Canen was convicted in 2005 in the strangulation death of 94-year-old Helen Sailor, who was found in her Elkhart home.
Royer was sentenced to 55 years in prison.
A hearing is scheduled for June.