NorCal Man Exonerated In Stabbing Death After 28 Years In Prison

SANTA CLARA (CBS SF/AP) — A Northern California man convicted in the stabbing death a man suspected of sexually molesting a child has been exonerated after 28 years in prison thanks to newly discovered evidence, including the confession of the true killer.

Northern California Innocence Project says Bob Fenenbock was exonerated Friday.

He was the first of a group of people tried in the 1991 murder of Gary Summar at a campground in Hawkins Bar, a hamlet in Trinity County.

The organization says Fenenbock was convicted based on the testimony of a nine-year-old boy who had been coached by a therapist and detectives, who believed Fenenbock was part of a mob that conspired to kill Summar.

"The only thing they had on him in the end was this kid who was in the back of the car," Northern California Innocence Project attorney Paige Kaneb told KRCR News Channel 7. "The kid had told police that he didn't see anything on the drive, he said nothing happened. He would tell them over and over again but, they said you have to say something else so, eventually he agreed with them and said that Bob had done it."

After Fenenbock's conviction, another man admitted to killing Summar alone to avenge the alleged molestation of his girlfriend's daughter.

© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.