NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — A man convicted of murder by arson 30 years ago walked out of prison a free man on Tuesday.
Claude Garrett has been behind bars for the murder of his girlfriend Laurie Lance in Old Hickory back in 1992. He has always maintained his innocence.
Judge Monte Watkins has signed an order to vacate Garrett's conviction. He'll was released from Riverbend Prison on Tuesday.
At the time of the conviction, investigators concluded it was arson although both Garrett and Lance were in the house when the fire began. Since then, 14 of the leading fire experts in the world have opined that there is no evidence of arson at all.
The Innocence Project took up his case and FOX 17 News Investigates became the first television station to question the conviction.
The DA's conviction review unit determined that Garrett should be released because there was no evidence of a crime.
RELATED COVERAGE:
Get reports like this and all the news of the day in Middle Tennessee delivered to your inbox each morning with the FOX 17 News Daily Newsletter.