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A Kentucky man sentenced to life behind bars after being wrongfully convicted over the “satanic killing” of a teen girl 30 years ago has been awarded a record $24.35 million payout.
Jeffrey Clark accused cops and a former coroner of conspiring to wrongfully imprison him for 22.5 years before being awarded the substantial payout — and $75,000 in damages — last Wednesday, according to his lawyers.
“I finally feel like I am able to wake up from a 34-year nightmare,” he said following a successful civil case.
He and his pal Keith Hardin were convicted in 1995 of killing Rhonda Sue Warford, 19, who was Hardin’s girlfriend.
Warford was found dead in a field and covered in stab wounds after she left her Louisville home just after midnight on April 2, 1992.
Cops honed in on Hardin and Clark – who were just 21 at the time – after Warford’s mother claimed she had pals linked to Satanism, according to the Innocence Project.
Clark was arrested despite telling cops he had not seen Warford since December 1991. Police had claimed they found a fingerprint belonging to Warford in his car.
Investigators seized evidence from Hardin’s home, including a blood-soaked cloth and broken glass. Prosecutors alleged the glass was a “chalice” from which Hardin drank the blood of animals.
Prosecutors rigorously tried to link Clark to the satanic killing.
During the trial, Clark’s ex-girlfriend, Amy Remsberg, claimed her former flame was involved in satanic practices – and that he had an inverted cross tattoo on his shoulder.
She also claimed he had taken her to a site where several animal sacrifices had supposedly been made.
Clark showed the jury he had no such markings on his arms, while an ex-co-worker claimed he had previously spoken about animal sacrifices at church.
An inmate claimed Clark confessed to him after being arrested – even though he strongly denied any involvement in the crime.
Hardin and Clark were convicted after prosecutors claimed a hair on her body matched Hardin – which later turned out to be false after DNA testing. Their convictions were overturned in 2016.
In a lawsuit, Clark alleged that ex-Meade County Sheriff Joseph Greer and former coroner Bill Adams manipulated Warford’s date of death.
Adams used white-out to change the date of Warford’s death to April 2 to bypass Clark’s alibi, even though medical examiners suggested Warford likely died between April 4 and 5.
“Defendants framed Jeff for a crime he didn’t commit when he was just a young kid,” Clark’s attorney Elliot Slosar said.
“Jeff lost his life and wasn’t set free until he was in his mid-40s.”
However, Warford’s killer remains at large.
“No amount of money can atone for the catastrophic consequences on Jeff’s life, or the injustice done to Rhonda and her family,” lawyer Amy Staples said.
With Post wires
English (US)