Jeffrey Deskovic

The Crime

On the afternoon of Nov. 15, 1989, 15-year-old Angela Correa went out after school in Peekskill, New York, to take pictures for a photography class. She never returned home. Her body was found by police dogs two days later. She had been sexually assaulted, beaten, and strangled. Her clothes and cassette player were recovered nearby.

The Investigation

An autopsy revealed genital trauma. Semen was identified on the vaginal swabs from the rape kit but no semen was observed on the victim’s clothes.

Sixteen-year-old Jeffrey Deskovic, a classmate of Ms. Correa’s, became a suspect after he was late to school the day after Ms. Correa’s disappearance, and because he seemed overly distraught about her death. He visited her wake three times.

Police spoke with Mr. Deskovic eight times in December 1989 and January 1990. Meanwhile, the teenager had begun his own “investigation” of the case, and would give officers notes about possible suspects. In late January, he agreed to a polygraph examination, believing that he would be cleared and could continue to help police with their investigation.

Mr. Deskovic was taken to a small room at a private polygraph company run by an officer with the Westchester Sheriff’s Department. Testimony at Mr. Deskovic’s trial would state that the officer had been hired to get a confession. Between polygraph sessions, detectives interrogated the teenager without a lawyer or parent present. He was provided with coffee throughout the day but no food. 

After six hours, three polygraph sessions, and extensive questioning by detectives, the police were able to get Mr. Deskovic to confess. During the interrogation, one of the detectives had accused Mr. Deskovic of failing his polygraph, asserting that he had been convinced of the teenager’s guilt for weeks. According to the detective, Mr. Deskovic then stated he “realized” three weeks ago he might be the killer.

Mr. Deskovic was asked to describe the crime and began speaking in the third person, but switched to first person part way through. Ultimately, he said, “I lost my temper,” and that he hit the victim in the head with a Gatorade bottle, put his hand over her mouth, and kept it there too long. 

During the statement, Mr. Deskovic began to cry. By the end of the interrogation, he was under the table, curled up in the fetal position, sobbing.

On Jan. 25, 1990, Mr. Deskovic was charged with first-degree rape and second-degree murder.

The Trial

Prior to the trial, DNA testing was performed. Mr. Deskovic was excluded as the source of semen in the rape kit. The prosecution continued on the strength of the confession.

On Nov. 19, 1990, following a hearing lasting several days on a defense motion to suppress the confession, Westchester County Supreme Court Judge Nicholas Colabella denied the motion. Jury selection then began.

Although the jury heard evidence that Mr. Deskovic had been excluded as the source of the semen, the prosecution argued that the delay in finding the body had degraded the evidence or, alternatively, that he had not ejaculated. The prosecution also argued that Ms. Correa had had consensual sex with someone else and that Mr. Deskovic had killed her in a jealous rage.

On Dec. 5, 1990, the jury convicted Mr. Deskovic of first-degree rape and second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.

The Second Department Appellate Division upheld the conviction and sentence on Feb. 14, 1994.

The Exoneration

In January 2006, the Innocence Project took on Mr. Deskovic’s case. The semen from the rape kit was tested with newer technology and then submitted to the New York State DNA database. 

In September 2006, the DNA profile from the evidence was matched to convicted criminal Steven Cunningham, who was serving a prison sentence of 20 years to life for strangling the sister of his live-in girlfriend three years after Ms. Correa was murdered.

On Sept. 20, Mr. Deskovic’s conviction was vacated and Mr. Deskovic was released from prison. He had spent nearly 16 years — about half of his life — in custody for a crime he did not commit.

On Nov. 2, 2006, the prosecution apologized to Mr. Deskovic and dismissed the case.

Mr. Deskovic eventually was awarded $14.05 million in compensation by the state of New York state. Additionally, a federal jury awarded him $41 million in a civil lawsuit against Putnam County. However, a pre-trial agreement that ensured Mr. Deskovic a multimillion-dollar award also included a ceiling to the compensation, limiting his actual award to $10 million. With some of these proceeds he established the Deskovic Foundation of Justice.

In May 2013, Mr. Deskovic received a master’s degree from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. In May 2019, Mr. Deskovic obtained a law degree from Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. He was admitted to the New York State Bar in October 2020.