Nebraska county with few people, assets faces huge judgment

BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) — It started with a murder, was followed by a botched trial and has ended with a small Nebraska county facing a $30 million judgment it can't possibly pay.

Now the farmers and small town residents of Gage County find themselves on the brink of a rare public bankruptcy, and wondering about possibly selling off the county's road equipment, public buildings and few other assets to pay down the debt.

"It's just devastating," said Darrell Fletcher, who owns a carpet store in the county seat of Beatrice. "It's going to affect the whole area — businesses, farmers, you name it."

The county's problems stem from the horrific rape and killing of 68-year-old Helen Wilson in 1985 and the conviction months later of three men and three women who spent decades in prison before DNA evidence exonerated them and implicated an Oklahoma man who died in 1992. Those wrongly convicted filed a federal lawsuit claiming investigators recklessly worked to close the case despite contradictory evidence, and last July, a federal jury awarded them $28.1 million, plus additional money for attorney fees.

Read more: http://www.kearneyhub.com/news/state/nebraska-county-with-few-people-assets-faces-huge-judgment/article_66a3103c-ee10-584c-a439-650cb0e40319.html