Mysterious Circumstances Junior

Joe Arridy was a young American man known for having been falsely accused, wrongfully convicted, and wrongfully executed for the 1936 rape and murder of Dorothy Drain, a 15-year-old girl in Pueblo, Colorado. He was manipulated by the police to make a false confession due to his mental incapacities. Arridy was severely mentally disabled and was 23 years old when he was executed on January 6, 1939. Many people at the time and since believed that Arridy was innocent. A group known as Friends of Joe Arridy formed and in 2007 commissioned the first tombstone for his grave. They also supported preparation of a petition by David A. Martinez, Denver attorney, for a state pardon to clear Arridy's name. In 2011, Arridy received a full and unconditional posthumous pardon by Colorado Governor Bill Ritter (72 years after his death). Ritter, the former District Attorney of Denver, pardoned Arridy based on questions about the man's guilt, and what appeared to be a coerced false confession. This was the first time in Colorad