In his third round of questioning, Sammy Hadaway confessed.
After being held in a Milwaukee jail for several days in 1995, he told detectives that he saw his friend, Chaunte Ott, rape and murder a 16-year-old runaway named Jessica Payne.
Hadaway — who has cerebral palsy, epilepsy and brain damage and is referred to in medical records as a “poor historian” — said he robbed Payne before Ott raped and killed her.
The biggest problem with the confession: It was all a lie, one Hadaway now says he told police to avoid a homicide conviction that could have landed him behind bars for the rest of his life.
“I was like, ‘Okay, he did it’ and I repeated the story (police) told me,” Hadaway, now 38, said in an interview.
Via WisconsinWatch.org.