Four months after DNA evidence exonerated and freed Kenneth Ireland from his conviction for a 1986 rape and murder, Wallingford police announce they have arrested another person for the crime.
Kevin Benefield, 45, of the Bronx, NY, was taken into custody Tuesday morning. Once extradited to the state, he will be charged with murder and first degree sexual assault, according to Wallingford police. He will be held on $1 million bond.
Ireland was 20-years-old when he was sentenced to 50 years in prison for the 1986 attack on Barbara Pelkey. The mother of four was found nude at the former R.S. Moulding and Manufacturing Co. in Wallingford, where she worked alone at night.
In a statement, police cited more than 20 years of "technological advancements in forensic, DNA and other investigative methods not available in 1986" with developing enough evidence to secure an arrest warrant for Benefield.
On Aug. 5, a state judge overturned his conviction.
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