Man Wrongfully Imprisoned for Murder of Wallingford's Barbara Pelkey Gets Hearing Date

Kenneth Ireland, who spent 21 years in prison for the rape and murder of a Wallingford woman that he didn't commit, will get the opportunity to testify at the state Capitol on July 29 as he seeks compensation up to $8 million.

The hearing, the first of its kind in Connecticut, will be held at the Legislative Office building and be heard by Waterbury attorney James P. Brennan, according to the Hartford Courant.

Ireland, who was 18 at the time, was sent to prison for the 1986 rape and murder of Wallingford's Barbara Pelkey, a 30-year-old mother of four.

Lawyers with the Connecticut Innocence Project pushed for DNA tests and Ireland was eventually freed in 2009 after the tests proved he wasn't guilty and Kevin Benefield was identified as the real killer.

Read the full story at the Hartford Courant here.