A man whose sentence was overturned after serving 23 years for the killing of a Brooklyn rabbi had a massive heart attack a day after being freed.
David Ranta, 58, had a heart attack last Friday. A New York State Supreme Court judge in Brooklyn had released him from jail the previous day.
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console.log("catid body is "+catID);if(catID==120){document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none";var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://player.anyclip.com/anyclip-widget/lre-widget/prod/v1/src/lre.js'; script.setAttribute('pubname','jpostcom'); script.setAttribute('widgetname','0011r00001lcD1i_12258'); document.getElementsByClassName('divAnyClip')[0].appendChild(script);}else if(catID!=69 && catID!=2){ document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none"; var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://static.vidazoo.com/basev/vwpt.js'; script.setAttribute('data-widget-id','60fd6becf6393400049e6535'); document.getElementsByClassName('divVidazoo')[0].appendChild(script); }No physical evidence had linked Ranta, an unemployed drug addict, to the fatal February 1990 shooting of Rabbi Chaskel Werzberger in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.
A jury found Ranta guilty in May 1991 based on witness testimony and circumstantial evidence. He was sentenced to 37 1/2 years in prison.
Ranta was released following a new probe in which witnesses recanted and evidence suggested another man who died in a car accident months after the shooting was the shooter.