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CONVICT FREED AFTER GIRLFRIEND'S KILLER CONFESSES Former Detective Lied about Affair with Victim, Spent More than Six Years in Prison for Murder By Brian Carovilland, The Associated Press, Reported in Las Vegas Review-Journal, 11-23-02 PROVIDENCE, R.I. - For a guy who claimed to be innocent, Jeffrey Scott Hornoff behaved like a guilty man. After Victoria Cushman was bludgeoned to death with a fire extinguisher in 1989, Hornoff changed his story several times. Under police questioning, he whimpered, held his head in his hands and stared morosely at the floor. More than six years into a life sentence for murder, it turns out his only offense was adultery and lying about it to police. The former Warwick police detective's attempts to hide the infidelity apparently were what got him convicted. None of that became clear until this month, when Tod Barry, a 45-year-old carpenter who was never even a suspect, confessed to the murder. Investigators said he acted out of guilt. They gave no motive for the slaying but said Barry and the victim had dated. "It's an utter stroke of luck," said Rob Warden, director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at the Northwestern University School of Law. "If this had happened in another state that had the death penalty, Hornoff would almost certainly be dead." Two days after Barry was charged with murder, a judge set Hornoff free. "Scott Hornoff had small secrets that he wanted to protect," Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse said. "Protecting those small secrets made him look like he was protecting the big secret that he had murdered Victoria Cushman." Hornoff, a 40-year-old father of three, has declined interview requests until his case is dismissed, possibly Dec. 6. Hornoff and Cushman met in 1989 while she was working at a sporting goods store where Hornoff, a member of the Warwick police dive team, bought his scuba gear. He was married with a baby. He and Cushman began sleeping together that summer. Cushman, 29, told co-workers she thought Hornoff would leave his wife for her. Later that summer, Hornoff apparently told Cushman he was breaking it off with her. A co-worker of Cushman's testified that Cushman was surprised and angry. Two days later, Cushman was found bludgeoned to death in her apartment. The weapon, a 17-pound fire extinguisher, was found nearby. Detectives also found a letter to Hornoff in which Cushman refused to break off their affair and insisted he leave his wife. Lacking blood, fingerprints or other forensic evidence linking Hornoff to the crime, prosecutors seized on the letter. Hornoff gave conflicting accounts of his relationship with Cushman, even denying at one point that he knew her. "The criminal justice system is simply unforgiving when people do things that are quite natural," Warden said. "When somebody asks if you're having an affair, it's quite natural to lie. Then you're a liar. When you start telling the truth, you're changing your story. That's two strikes as far as a jury's concerned." The Warwick Police Department's handling of the case probably didn't help. In their zeal to protect Hornoff, his fellow officers may have made him look more guilty, Whitehouse said. Evidence was lost or misplaced. Police also gave him a polygraph and said he passed; investigators later said the test violated every rule for conducting such procedures. The state police eventually took over the case, and in 1994, Hornoff was charged with murder. Prosecutors argued that Hornoff killed Cushman to keep his wife, Rhonda, from learning about the affair. Hornoff and his wife were divorced a few years ago. At his sentencing, Hornoff professed his innocence. "Am I guilty of something?" he said. "Yes, I am. I broke my sacred wedding vows, and for that I will never forgive myself." WORKING TOGETHER TO ATTAIN FAIRNESS | |
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