DEWEY BOZELLA was an 18-year-old petty criminal when Emma Crapser, an elderly resident of Poughkeepsie, New York, was murdered in 1977.
With nothing to tie him to the scene, aside from the testimony of two criminals who changed their stories repeatedly during interrogation, and in the face of apparently contradictory evidence– including the fingerprints of a man who was later convicted of a nearly identical murder– the by-then 24-year-old was found guilty and issued a heavy sentence.
Bozella was retried in 1990 and offered a plea bargain that would allow him to walk free on the condition that he accept his guilt. He refused and spent the next 19 years in various state prisons, finally receiving his release in 2009.
This weekend, the former Sing Sing light-heavyweight champion will take to the ring in Los Angeles to make his professional boxing debut on the undercard of Bernard Hopkins, whose trainers have been helping him reach peak fitness.
The 52-year-old, who has apparently impressed in sparring, is more concerned with the event’s personal significance than the result. He told the New York Times that “this is not a career move.”
“It’s a personal move and a way to let people know to never give up on their dreams. My favorite quote is ‘Don’t let fear determine who you are and never let where you come from determine where you’re going.’ That’s what this is about…“No one’s giving me nothing for free. I can go out there and get knocked out, or I can knock the other guy out. It’s that simple.”
The soon-to-be professional boxer, who earned a postgraduate degree from the New York Theological Seminary during his time in prison, is also fighting to secure financial compensation from the US government, a legal battle complication by a recent unfavourable 5-4 Supreme Court decision.
