Charges dropped against longtime fugitive for 1993 slaying
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A man arrested in North Carolina last year after decades as a fugitive will be released because Pennsylvania prosecutors have decided they cannot prove he was responsible for a 1993 slaying.
Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said Wednesday he would withdraw all charges against 46-year-old Marcello Morales. He said prosecutors re-interviewed witnesses in the nearly 25-year-old case and determined they would not be able to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Morales was accused of fatally stabbing 30-year-old Edwin Torres in Allentown in June 1993. An arrest warrant was issued days later, but he was not captured until last November.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Authorities say he had been living near Raleigh, North Carolina, under the name Roberto Tomas Mendez.