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New York Prisoner Released After 27 Years Thanks To Golf Paintings

Valentino Dixon was finally set free on Wednesday after spending 27 years behind bars for a crime he didn’t even commit.

His golf paintings were featured in a 2012 edition of Golf Digest by their Editorial Director Max Adler while he was in prison which sparked new found interest in his case.  Thanks to three college students who were intrigued enough to open up the 48-year old’s case, his conviction was overturned.

The New York Times reports:

There were dozens of witnesses when a gunfight broke out on a street corner in Buffalo on Aug. 10, 1991. At least three people were injured, and Torriano Jackson, 17, was killed. Valentino Dixon, then 21, was at the scene. Hours later, he was arrested. And in 1992, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to almost 40 years to life in prison, with no chance of parole until 2030.

The real killer, Lamarr Scott, admitted to local media only days after the murder that he shot Torriano Jackson in 1991 – but was never arrested.

Congrats to Valentino and his entire family on his new found freedom and success.