Minnesota man’s murder conviction vacated in wife’s death

By MARGARET STAFFORD
Associated Press

A Minnesota man who spent nearly 25 years in prison in connection with his wife’s death has been freed after officials vacated his murder conviction. The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office announced Friday that an investigation concluded that medical evidence used to convict Thomas Rhodes was flawed. Rhodes’ wife, Jane Rhodes, died in 1996 after she went overboard and drowned during a nighttime boat ride with her husband. A doctor in the first trial testified that Rhodes threw his wife overboard and ran over her. Thomas Rhodes said his wife accidentally fell. A spokeswoman for the Great North Innocence Project said Rhodes was beaming when he left prison Friday.