Brothers Were Falsely Convicted Of Rape, Murder And Spent 31 Years In Prison. They Each Just Received $31 Million In Damages.

In September 1983, the body of 11-year-old Sabrina Buie was found in a soybean field in Red Springs, North Carolina. The young girl had been raped and murdered, with her underwear stuffed down her throat.

Shortly after the discovery, on September 28, 1983, two teenage brothers with mental handicaps were picked up by police and questioned about the girls’ death. Henry McCollum, then 19, and his younger half-brother Leon Brown, then 15, were each eventually convicted of the murder and rape and sentenced to death row.