Hawaii Man Freed After 30 Years in Prison Due to New DNA Evidence
After spending 30 years behind bars for a murder he has always denied committing, Gordon Cordeiro was released from a Maui prison on Friday. A judge overturned his conviction after new DNA evidence excluded him as the perpetrator.
One of his first stops was his mother’s gravesite. She died just weeks before his arrest in 1994. “Thanks for looking over me,” he said at her headstone, which read: “You were the wind beneath our wings.”
Cordeiro’s conviction stemmed from the 1994 shooting of Timothy Blaisdell during a drug-related robbery. His first trial ended in a hung jury, but he was later convicted of murder, robbery, and attempted murder and sentenced to life without parole. However, recent DNA testing found that his DNA was not present at the crime scene. Instead, an unidentified person’s DNA was discovered inside the victim’s pockets. The Hawaii Innocence Project argued that this evidence would have changed the trial’s outcome.
Judge Kirstin Hamman ruled that the new evidence warranted his release, leading to gasps and cries in the courtroom. Meanwhile, Maui County prosecutors have announced plans to appeal and seek bail conditions for Cordeiro.
Now adjusting to life outside prison, Cordeiro noted the drastic changes over the past three decades. “Everybody is looking at their phones,” he said, recalling that he only had a pager before his incarceration. Though he now owns a smartphone, he admitted, “I’m not staring at it yet.”
As he moves forward, Cordeiro plans to reunite with family, repair cars, and give back to the community. Reflecting on his release, he said, “Thank God for new DNA. Technology is awesome.”
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