Unmaking a Murderer

Before “Serial” and “Making a Murderer,” and before DNA evidence was a staple of trials on TV and in real life, an innocent man was sentenced to death. In 1985, Kirk Bloodsworth, a 23-year-old honorably discharged Marine was convicted of the rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl based on the testimony of five so-called eyewitnesses. As the prison librarian, Kirk found a book about the first time DNA was used to solve homicides in England. After nine years in prison, and many twists and turns, including a judge fortuitously saving the victim’s underwear, Kirk became the first death row prisoner in America to be exonerated and freed because of DNA evidence. His story has just been released in a documentary entitled, Bloodsworth: An Innocent Man.