Man Dies 1 Month After Court Awards Him $1.1 Million (BTK Serial Suspect)

[matcom]

<snip>

Roger Valadez died suddenly and unexpectedly Monday, nearly two years after becoming the victim of Wichita's most notorious case of mistaken identity.

Valadez, 66, apparently died of a heart attack, one of his lawyers said, just a month after receiving a $1.1 million verdict against a Wichita television station.

A jury found that KSN acted outrageously and injured Valadez's reputation when it was the only station to use his name the morning after police took him into custody on Dec. 1, 2004, as a suspect in the BTK serial killings.

Wichita police released Valadez from jail the following day, after rushing a swab with his DNA to a crime lab in Topeka. The sample did not match one taken from a BTK crime scene.

A couple of months later, police arrested Dennis Rader of Park City, who confessed to being the man who would "bind, torture and kill" his victims.

Under Kansas law, legal experts say, Valadez's case won't die with him. The verdict can become a part of his estate, and the case could even be retried if KSN wins its appeal.

After hearing the verdict last month, Valadez acknowledged that the ordeal had caused him a great deal of stress.

"It's something that will stay with me for the rest of my life," he said.

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/16120303.htm

[ironflange]

1. Poor guy

You can't take it with you, lucky for me I have nothing to take anyway.