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Pennsylvania Inmate Released From Death Row After 20 Years

He was sentenced instead for tampering with evidence after prosecutors dropped his murder charges.

After 20 years behind bars, an inmate in Pennsylvania has been released from Death Row. Prosecutors dropped charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy and burglary for Noel Montalvo, who was convicted in 1998 with his older brother for the double murder of his brother’s 44-year-old ex-girlfriend and 37-year-old Manual Ramirez Santana. Instead, Montalvo was charged with evidence tampering. Though DNA evidence showed that Montalvo’s brother was associated with the killings, evidence against Montalvo was based purely on witness testimony that District Attorney David Sunday Jr. said “continued to diminish over time and now lacked sufficient reliability.” “Given the lack of any forensic evidence tying Noel Montalvo to the murders and the lack of reliable witnesses concerning the homicide charges, a plea to tampering was the only fair, just, and ethical result for this case,” he added.