Brian Gordon
Asheville Citizen Times
Gov. Roy Cooper has pardoned four men who were wrongfully convicted of murder in Buncombe County, ending a decades-long legal battle surrounding the death of Walter Rodney Bowman.
Though Kenneth Kagonyera, Larry Williams, Damian Mills and Teddy Isbell had already been found innocent in connection to the 2000 shooting of Bowman, a Fairview resident, the pardons now allow each to pursue financial compensation from the state for their wrongful convictions.
Cooper also issued a pardon for Ronnie Long, a Concord resident who was freed in August after serving more than 40 years in prison for a rape he didn’t commit. These were the first pardons Cooper had issued in office.
Gov Cooper pardons 4 Buncombe County men in 2000 murder case
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Five Pardons Could Receive $750,000 Each In Restitution
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Ronnie Long, four others granted pardons of innocence by N.C. Governor
NC governor pardons five innocent men By Nick Ochsner | December 17, 2020 at 1:48 PM EST - Updated December 17 at 7:04 PM
RALEIGH, N.C. (WBTV) - Governor Roy Cooper issued a pardon of innocence to five men on Thursday, each of whom had been convicted of crimes they did not commit.
The four other men, Teddy Isbell, Damian Mills, Kenneth Kagonyera and Larry Williams, were co-defendants in a 2000 Buncombe County murder case and had coerced into pleading guilty, even though they were innocent.
The pardons make the men eligible to receive compensation from the state for the time they spent in prison.