Minn. man cleared of 1992 Conn. slaying

Published 2:56 pm Wednesday, January 5, 2011

DANBURY, Conn. — A former Connecticut man charged with the 1992 strangulation of a Bethel man found dead in his home has been acquitted.

A three-judge panel on Wednesday cleared 49-year-old Donald Krauth in the death of 58-year-old Charles Cromwell. Police reopened their investigation in 2009 after finding Krauth’s DNA on Cromwell’s shirt, and arrested the former New Milford man last year.

Defense attorneys say the DNA likely was on Cromwell’s shirt because he’d hired Krauth to clean out his basement shortly before the killing. They also said the investigation was sloppy and witnesses were unreliable.

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Krauth now lives in Barnesville, Minn.

Krauth’s attorney, William Dow III, said they are pleased he’s been exonerated, but that it was unfortunate for an innocent man to be jailed for nine months waiting to have his name cleared.