She was just cleaning up when the men came. It was 1993, and the housekeeper was working in La Center when two men barged in, raped her then robbed the house. Alan Winthrop and Larry Davis spent 17 years in jail for the crimes. But on Wednesday they walked out of a Vancouver, WA courtroom as free men, exonerated by previously unavailable DNA evidence.The then-36-year-old victim was blindfolded, so she only caught a glimpse of her attackers. She initially didn’t ID Winthrop or Davis. But two separate juries found the men guilty on rape, kidnapping and burglary charges.Then this year the Innocence Project of the Pacific Northwest had DNA recovered from the victim’s fingernails and pubic hair tested with technology that hadn’t been available at the time. It wasn’t a match.In April a judge vacated the sentences. Davis had already been released for good behavior in January after serving nearly two decades. Winthrop was let go after the judge’s order.The prosecution had two months to decide whether to bring another case against the men. But after testing another 16 objects found at the scene, including the duct tape used to tie up the victim, it realized that there was no physical evidence linking Davis and Winthrop to the crime.Northrop, now 45, says he plans to spend his time with his three kids and grandchild. He also recently got engaged to a friend from high school. Davis, now 53, just got a construction job.”I’m just glad to be out so I can soar like an eagle,” he told the AP.
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