The Innocence Project of Texas is offering a $100,000 reward to anyone who can prove that a woman did not murder her husband more than a decade ago.
Sandra Melgar was sentenced to 27 years in prison after a court found her guilty of murdering her husband Jaime "Jim" Melgar in December 2012. Prosecutors accused her of staging a home invasion, according to the Innocence Project of Texas.
The Innocence Project looks into and takes on cases of individuals who claim to have been wrongfully convicted. With several branches across the country, the organization has helped exonerate and free hundreds of innocent people.
The organization first took up Melgar's case in December 2022, noting details in the case such as how no blood or DNA from her husband was on her, as well as that there were no signs of a clean up, Mike Ware, executive director at the Innocence Project of Texas, told KHOU.
With the new addition of the $100,000 reward, the organization is hoping that it will lead to new evidence that can help free Melgar, who has maintained her innocence since her husband's death.
Melgar's sentence has been viewed as controversial by many, as Melgar's brother reportedly found her bound in a closet while her husband had been stabbed to death in another room. Amateur sleuths and crime podcast hosts have been trying to piece together the case for years, hoping to find new evidence, as reported by ABC News in 2019.
"We are going to keep on fighting until there is no more fight left," Lizz Melgar Rose, Sandra and Jaime's daughter, told KHOU.
Melgar previously appealed her conviction on claims of lack of evidence, however her appeal was denied in 2020, according to the Office of the State Prosecuting Attorney of Texas.
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