RENO, Nev. (AP) — A woman who spent 35 years in prison for a murder she didn't commit before she was exonerated by DNA evidence will receive $3 million under a settlement approved by the Reno City Council.
Cathy Woods was arrested and wrongfully convicted for the 1976 murder of 19-year-old University of Nevada, Reno student Michelle Mitchell. Woods was released from prison in 2015 when new evidence linked the murder to an Oregon inmate, who has since been convicted of two murders in California.
The National Registry of Exonerations said Woods was the longest-ever wrongfully incarcerated woman in U.S. history. She now lives with relatives in Washington state.