Boston Man Exonerated for Wounding Police Officer is Shot to Death
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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."
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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.