WNT: Inmate's Murder Confession Overlooked

T U L I A, Tex., Oct. 22, 2000 -- It seemed straightforward. In 1988, Christopher Ochoa and Richard Danziger were charged with the rape and murder of 20-year-old Nancy DePriest.

Ochoa confessed, and a jury sentenced Danzinger to life in prison. But Achim Marino, now serving three life sentences for sexual assault and other crimes, says neither man is guilty.

“There’s two innocent men in prison for a crime that I did,” Marino says.

Christopher Ochoa and Richard Danzinger are serving life sentences for a rape and murder Marino says he committed.

Confession Letter Sent to BushIn February 1998, Marino wrote a letter to Gov. George Bush admitting his guilt.

“You all are legally and morally obligated to contact Dansinger [sic] and Ochoa’s attorneys and families concerning this confession,” the letter read.

But no one did.

“I did these crimes alone,” Marino says. “I don’t know Ochoa or Danzinger, never met them. They’re innocent.”

His claim of innocence is supported by recent DNA tests. But ABCNEWS has also learned that preliminary DNA testing on the same material implicated Marino.

On the campaign trail, Bush said it was a matter for local law enforcement.

“Marino’s case was fully looked at by the Austin police department,” he said.

Case Is Under Review

Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, the local prosecutor who sent these men to prison, is now reexamining the case.

“It’s a tragedy for everybody concerned,” Earle says. “If in fact these two men are not guilty, it is of course a tragedy for them.

Initially, Ochoa actually confessed to the crime. Now, he says the confession was coerced by an overzealous police officer.

“Basically, it was nothing but threats,” Ochoa says. “He showed me a picture of death row, saying ‘you’re going to die for this crime, even if you didn’t do it.’”

Attorneys for Ochoa say the case is symptomatic of a larger problem in the state of Texas.

“When you threaten someone with potential execution, you wind up with cases like this where just to avoid execution the person will give a false confession,” says Barry Scheck, professor at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law and co-director of the Innocence Project, a group that focuses on the use of DNA evidence to overturn murder convictions. His group and another Innocence Project affiliated with the University of Wisconsin became involved in the case in late 1999.

“If indeed these men are not guilty, then we want to get them out of jail as soon as possible,” Earle says.

According to Earle, the search for justice won’t end with this case. His office is one of the first in the country to voluntarily review more than 400 felony convictions.