DNA evidence clears Va. man in '76 abductions

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Virginia Supreme Court has exonerated a man who was convicted of abducting a woman and her two children in Prince William County in 1976.

DNA testing eliminated Garry Diamond as the contributor of bodily fluids found on the woman's clothing.

The Department of Forensic Science has been reviewing old case files that contain biological evidence collected before DNA testing was available. Shawn Armbrust of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project said Monday that Diamond is the eighth person cleared by the project.

The Virginia attorney general's office supported Diamond's petition for a writ of actual innocence, which was granted Friday.

Diamond served nearly three years of a 15-year sentence. Armbrust said the former Woodbridge resident now lives out of state and did not want to comment on the case.