Wrongly Imprisoned for 32 Years, Maryland Man Sues Over Botched Murder Case
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A Maryland man who spent more than three decades in prison for a double murder he did not commit is suing those he says are responsible for robbing him of his freedom.
John Huffington, now 62, was wrongfully convicted in the 1981 slayings of Diane Becker and Joseph Hudson, a case that would later unravel due to forensic failures and prosecutorial misconduct. Huffington’s lawsuit, filed July 15 in federal court in Baltimore, targets former law enforcement and judicial figures connected to his conviction — though most of them are now deceased.
The crimes, known as the “Memorial Day Murders,” shocked Harford County at the time. Becker was found stabbed to death inside her RV, while her boyfriend Hudson was fatally shot and discovered miles away. Her 4-year-old son, present in the RV, was left unharmed.
Huffington, then just 18 years old, was arrested and tried twice for the murders. Both trials relied heavily on now-discredited hair analysis and the testimony of a co-defendant, who cut a deal to testify against him. Huffington was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 1983. That sentence was later commuted to two life terms.
He maintained his innocence for over 30 years. His appeals were consistently rejected — until 2011, when The Washington Post unearthed an FBI report from 1999 suggesting the agent who examined the hair samples had not used reliable science, or possibly had not tested the hair at all.
Even more troubling: then–Harford County State’s Attorney Joseph Cassilly allegedly withheld that report from Huffington’s defense team.
New DNA testing later proved that the hair found at the crime scene did not belong to Huffington. In 2013, a judge vacated his conviction and ordered a new trial. Prosecutors ultimately dropped the charges, and Huffington was released after 32 years in prison, including a decade on death row.
In 2023, he received a full pardon of innocence from then-Governor Larry Hogan, who cited prosecutorial misconduct. The state later approved $2.9 million in compensation for Huffington’s wrongful imprisonment.
“This lawsuit isn’t about revenge,” Huffington said in a statement. “It’s about accountability. The system failed me at every level. I lost the chance to have a family, to be with my mother before she died, and to care for my father in his final years.”
The suit names five officials: Cassilly; Gerard Comen, the assistant state’s attorney; and three former Harford County sheriff’s detectives — David Saneman, William Van Horn, and Wesley J. Picha. Only Saneman is still alive; he told The Washington Post that he was unaware of the lawsuit and declined to comment.
Cassilly, who retired in 2019 and died in January 2024, was disbarred in 2021 by Maryland’s highest court. The court found he had knowingly withheld exculpatory evidence and lied about it for years.
His brother, Bob Cassilly, now the Harford County Executive, issued a statement defending his brother’s legacy, calling him a “decorated war hero” and adding that Harford County government has no legal role in the lawsuit, as the county was not the employer of any of the named defendants.
Huffington’s legal team argues that accountability remains crucial, even if most of the key players are no longer alive. The suit seeks unspecified damages for the decades of lost time, emotional trauma, and violations of Huffington’s civil rights.
“This is about the truth,” Huffington said. “No one should ever have to endure what I went through. The damage is permanent — but so is the record of what they did to me.”
