David Ranta, 58, the man wrongly convicted of shooting and killing a rabbi in 1991, has suffered a heart attack just one day after his release, reports The Daily News.
Ranta had been staying in a Manhattan hotel with loved ones and was said to be overwhelmed with the reaction his case was getting.
The New York Times reports:
Mr. Ranta was taken to a New York hospital — his family did not wish to disclose the name — where doctors discovered that one of Mr. Ranta’s arteries was completely blocked and another artery was halfway closed. Doctors put in a stent and Mr. Ranta was expected to undergo another procedure, according to the lawyer, Pierre Sussman.
Ranta had been sentenced to 37 years for killing an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi, Chaskel Werzberger, after a robbery gone wrong in 1991. He was finally released on Thursday and suffered the cardiac arrest on Friday night.
David Ranta pictured around the time of his conviction. Photo via CBS 2
Reportedly he has undergone one heart procedure and is due to undergo another. Ranta said upon his release:
As I said from the beginning, I have nothing to do with this case,
right now, I feel like I’m underwater, swimming… This is overwhelming.
Ranta’s acquittal came when the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office said they could not located evidence that proved Ranta’s guilt, saying:
After conducting exhaustive investigation, (the office) concluded that the foundation upon which Mr Ranta’s conviction was based had been eroded and that no remaining evidence could lead to Mr Ranta’s conviction, were he to be retried.
David Ranta pictured around the time of his conviction. Photo via CBS 2
