Fred Bledsoe is a man from Kansas who served 16 years in prison for a sexual assault and a killing that he didn’t do.
Now, the county that apprehended and convicted him of the offenses will pay him $7.5 million.
The settlement was approved last week by the Jefferson County commissioners. In 2015, Bledsoe was freed from prison after DNA evidence proved that he wasn’t the assailant in the killing of Camille Arfmann in the city of Oskaloosa.
At first, Bledsoe will be given $1.5 million. The remaining funds will be issued to him within a 10-year time span.
46-year-old Bledsoe was 23 when he was found guilty of killing the girl in 2020. He had been apprehended although his brother, Tom, admitted to the killing in 1999. Tom had also surrendered to authorities and had taken them to where the girl’s body was located.
In 2016, Fred Bledsoe had filed a lawsuit, claiming that Jefferson County authorities convinced Tom Bledsoe to take his confession back. He also stated that Tom “framed” him by concealing evidence that would have proven that Fred was innocent.
In 2015, DNA testing showed that Tom Bledsoe was the most probable for the sperm that was located on the victim. Tom Bledsoe committed suicide that same year subsequent to writing a note, admitting to killing Arfmann again.
Additionally, that same year Fred Bledsoe was released from prison, and charges against him were dismissed.
In 2019, after a mistaken conviction law was enforced, the state agreed to pay Bledsoe $1.03 million, as well.
