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Conn. court overturns inmate’s death sentence

Man was convicted in a murder-for-hire plot

The Associated Press via The Norwich Bulletin

HARTFORD, Conn. — The Connecticut Supreme Court on Monday overturned the death sentence of a man convicted in a murder-for-hire plot that promised him a broken snowmobile, saying the trial judge wrongly withheld key evidence from the jury.

Justices ordered a new penalty phase in the case of former Torrington resident Eduardo Santiago, 32, who was one of three men convicted in the fatal shooting of 45-year-old Joseph Niwinski in West Hartford in 2000. The other defendants pleaded guilty and are serving life in prison.

The court, however, upheld Santiago’s conviction. A new penalty phase hasn’t been scheduled yet.

Full story: Connecticut court overturns inmate’s death sentence