New trial ordered for men charged as teens in 1985 death

HARTFORD, Conn. – The Connecticut Supreme Court has ordered new trials for two men who were convicted more than three decades ago in the stabbing and beating death of a 65-year-old man.

The court found that Ralph “Ricky” Birch and Shawn Henning were convicted based in part on false testimony about blood stains on a towel that later were proven not to be blood.

The men were teenagers when they were charged two years after the crime. Birch has been serving a 55-year sentence for felony murder and Henning 50 years.

Sixty-five-year-old Everett Carr, of New Milford, was killed Dec. 1, 1985. He had been stabbed 27 times, had his throat cut and suffered seven blows to the head.

Supporters say no evidence was ever found linking Birch and Henning to Carr.