Victor Rosario

Innocent man who served 32 years in prison

Rosario was convicted of arson and eight murders; he was sentenced to life in prison. Investigations by the police into the cause of the fire made up the majority of the evidence against Rosario, but we’re fundamentally flawed. Years after his conviction, the New England Center for Investigative Reporting began an investigation into the original findings. Their investigation found egregious flaws in the methods and conclusions that convicted Rosario. Among these discrepancies were findings that the police assumed from the start that the fire was arson, burn patterns that could not have conclusively been caused by arson, and no accelerants, bottle glass, or other physical evidence of the three Molotov cocktails was discovered at the scene. There was also the issue of Rosario’s legal representation, who made little effort to refute the evidence provided. He did not call any expert witnesses to challenge the claims of the investigation.Just days before Rosario’s trial he was the driver involved a vehicular manslaughter charge, which resulted in the death of two people. On July 7, 2014, a Superior Court judge voided the conviction and ordered a new trial. Victor was released on Bond on July 10th. Read more about him [at the New England Innocence Project](http://www.newenglandinnocence.org/new-england-exonerees/2016/5/3/victor-rosario "").