Mel Ignatow Photos After Acquittal

In 1991 in Louisville, Kentucky, a man named Mel Ignatow went on trial for the 1988 murder of his girlfriend Brenda Sue Schaefer and was acquitted after he testified under oath that he had not killed her. About six months later, new occupants of his former home found rolls of undeveloped film hidden in an air vent, and the developed photos showed Ignatow binding, torturing, and murdering Schaefer.

Because double jeopardy rules barred a new murder trial, prosecutors could not retry him for the killing even with the photographs in hand. Instead, they charged him with perjury for lying on the stand, and he ultimately pleaded guilty and received a prison sentence for his false testimony.

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