SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) A southwestern Missouri man who spent eight years behind bars for his wife’s death before being exonerated is suing the detective who helped convict him.
Lisa Jennings’ Christmas Day death in 2006 was initially ruled a suicide. She had been shot at her Buffalo home. But an investigation led by Missouri State Highway Patrol detective Dan Nash determined that hand blood spatters were inconsistent with suicide.
Brad Jennings was convicted of first-degree murder in 2009. A judge ordered him released in February because authorities failed to disclose that the robe he was wearing at the time of his wife’s death tested negative for gunshot residue.
The Springfield News-Leader reports that Jennings’ federal lawsuit accuses Nash of civil rights violations. The Missouri Attorney General’s office, which is representing Nash, declined comment.
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