OCHOA, CHRIS & RICHARD DANZIGER: I Didn’t Do It TV - Innocence Project online -
16,847. A woman murdered. It appeared to be an open and shut case. But despite a confession something wasn’t right. In October 1988 Austin Texas was expanding fast. (Murder & Miscarriage of Justice) I Didn’t Do It, Crime Channel 2012
16,848. Nancy DePriest appeared to be dead. (Murder & Miscarriage of Justice) ibid.
16,849. He’d also told his lawyer that it was only because of police pressure that he’d made a false confession. (Murder & Miscarriage of Justice) ibid.
16,850. A review of the case by the Austin Police department found flaws in the investigation. (Murder & Miscarriage of Justice) ibid.
16,851. Nancy DePriest was raped and murdered in her work place in Austin, Texas in 1988. Chris Ochoa pled guilty to the murder of DePriest and his friend, Richard Danziger, was convicted of rape. Ochoa had confessed to the crime and had implicated Danziger. It would be discovered, however, that his confession was coerced and that neither man had anything to do with the slaying or raping of DePriest.
The victim worked at a Pizza Hut in Austin, where she had been tied up with her bra, raped, and shot in the head in the wake of an early morning robbery. She was still alive when the police arrived but died later that night. The police began investigating local Pizza Hut employees on the theory that a master key was used to gain entry.
Christopher Ochoa and Richard Danziger were roommates who also worked at an Austin area Pizza Hut. They were observed by a Pizza Hut waitress eating and drinking beer in what she surmised to be a toast to the victim. Police questioned Ochoa and Danziger in November 1988, and the two subsequently became the main suspects.
... Forensic Science Associates had retained a sample from testing performed at the time of the trial in 1989. Using newer testing methods, FSA was able to exclude both Ochoa and Danziger as sources of the spermatozoa. Chris Ochoa and Richard Danziger were exonerated in 2002.
Ochoa was greeted by the Wisconsin Innocence Project staff and students who helped him prove his innocence. Ochoa now states that his confession and implication of Danziger were the results of police pressure and fear of the death penalty, citing periods of time when they harassed him and threatened him with the consequences of not confessing. (Murder & Miscarriage of Justice) Innocence Project online report