Hawaii Man Wrongfully Convicted of Murder Released After 30 Years

A Hawaii man, Gordon Cordeiro, who spent 30 years in prison for a murder he long denied committing, was released from custody after a judge ordered his release based on new DNA evidence.

Cordeiro was convicted of the 1994 killing of Timothy Blaisdell during a drug deal robbery on the island of Maui. His first trial ended in a hung jury, but he was later found guilty and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

The Hawaii Innocence Project took up Cordeiro's case and argued that he must be released on the grounds of new evidence proving his innocence, ineffectiveness of his previous attorney, and prosecutorial misconduct.

Judge Kirstin Hamman ruled that new evidence, including DNA test results, would likely change the outcome of another trial against Cordeiro. She ordered his release from custody.

Cordeiro's attorneys said he had several alibis for the day Blaisdell was killed. They also said that new testing on physical evidence from the scene excluded Cordeiro as the source of DNA on Blaisdell's body and other crime scene evidence.

The judge agreed that the new DNA evidence and new information about gunshot residue would change the results of a later trial.

Cordeiro's attorneys believe that Michael Freitas, who died in 2020, set Blaisdell up to be robbed and was involved in his killing.

"The police botched this case from the beginning and turned the No. 1 suspect into the state's star witness, resulting in a 30-plus-year nightmare and miscarriage of justice for Gordon and his family," Lawson said.