NEW YORK—After decades in prison, three men were cleared Friday in one of the most horrifying crimes of New York’s violent 1990s—the killing of a clerk who was set on fire in a subway toll booth.
A judge dismissed the murder convictions of Vincent Ellerbe, James Irons, and Thomas Malik after prosecutors said the case was built on falsehood-filled confessions, shaky witness identifications, and other flawed evidence.
