Parents convicted of murdering daughter later found alive
When the body of a little girl was found near San Bernardino, California, in 1973, the authorities concluded that it was that of three-year-old Judy Rivera, whose parents had been suspected of killing her eight years earlier.
When the parents, Antonio Rivera and Merla Walpole, went on trial in March 1973, they told a sad story: In 1965, Antonio was unable to support the family, and Judy was seriously ill. In desperation, Antonio and Merla decided to abandon the child, in the hope that she might receive the care she needed. So that she could not be traced back to them, they drove to San Francisco and left her at a filling station, where, the San Francisco Chronicle reported the next day, the little girl was found. The jury didn?t believe them, however, returning a verdict of guilty.
Before sentencing, however, Judge Thomas M. Haldorsen set aside the verdict, ordered a new trial, and directed the prosecution to investigate the defendants? claim. In October 1975, Timothy Martin, an investigator for the district attorney, located the little girl who had been left in San Francisco a decade earlier. Now thirteen, she strongly resembled Antonio and Merla. After blood tests and comparisons of bone formations indicated she in all likelihood was their daughter, the prosecution dropped the charges. The body found in 1973 was never identified.
This account was written by Rob Warden, executive director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions. Permission is granted to reprint, quote, or post on other web sites with appropriate attribution.
