This is one of the reasons that some of us have lost faith in the criminal justice system. Brazeal should never have been allowed out of prison.
This was a fair cop.
The one who went to prison almost got away because of a problem with the DNA evidence. It was new to criminal trials in 1991, took months to process, and his trial was about to begin. They didn’t even know that it would pass judicial muster.
So they offered him a 2nd degree to testify against the one who was just executed. After he accepted and was sentenced, the DNA results came through showing he was just as guilty.
But this was then, and they learned from the experience.
Pure dumb luck.