RANDOLPH, Mass. – A man who was imprisoned more than six years after his wrongful conviction in the shooting of a Boston police officer was found shot to death in his home, authorities said Friday.
Stephan Cowans, 37, was found dead Thursday after a fight with someone he apparently let into his home, Norfolk District Attorney William Keating said.
"There's a sad kind of irony that a person who had a second chance found himself in this position," Keating said. "We're trying to find out exactly what happened."
Cowans was wrongly convicted in the wounding of police Sgt. Gregory Gallagher in 1997 after a fingerprint found on a glass near the crime scene was wrongly identified as his.
He was exonerated in 2004 after authorities re-examined the fingerprint. The case prompted the temporary closure of the police department's fingerprint unit.
Cowans received a $3.2 million settlement from the city and was also given $500,000 in compensation from the state for being wrongfully imprisoned.