‘Wrongly convicted' man who spent 22 years death row after 1985 Union County murder dies
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A man who was removed from Tennessee's death row in 2006 after being on it for 22 years following a conviction died on March 22, the Associated Press reported.
Paul House died at age 63 due to complications from pneumonia after living with multiple sclerosis for many years, according to the AP. His mother said he developed multiple sclerosis while in prison and was denied a walker or wheelchair. Another inmate carried House around.
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The AP quoted Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee, who wrote: 'Mr. House's innocence was indefatigably championed by his attorneys and by his mother, Joyce House… Although Mr. House spent far too many years wrongly convicted and facing execution, he was able to spend 17 years after his release with Joyce and his other family. He died peacefully with the knowledge that his innocence had been recognized.'
In 1986, House was convicted of the 1985 murder of his neighbor Carolyn Muncey in Luttrell, according to the Innocence Project. He maintained his innocence, and eventually his case reached the U.S. Supreme Court who said that he wouldn't have been convicted based on DNA evidence that emerged after his original trial.
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House was finally released in 2008 when an anonymous donor paid his bond, and prosecutors dropped the charges against him in 2009, according to the AP.
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