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A4 U.S. NEWS
Saturday 16 July 2022
3 men cleared in 1995 killing of NYC subway token clerk

By JENNIFER PELTZ light it!," authorities said at
Associated Press the time.
NEW YORK (AP) — After The booth exploded, and
decades in prison, three the 50-year-old Kaufman
men were cleared Friday in ran from it in flames. The
one of the most horrifying married father died two
crimes of New York's violent weeks later.
1990s — the killing of a clerk The attack bore some re-
who was set on fire in a sub- semblance to a scene in
way toll booth. "Money Train," an action
A judge dismissed the mur- movie that had been re-
der convictions of Vincent leased four days earlier.
Ellerbe, James Irons and Then-Senate Majority Lead-
Thomas Malik after Brooklyn er and Republican presi-
District Attorney Eric Gon- dential hopeful Bob Dole
zalez cited "serious prob- took to the Senate floor to
lems with the evidence on call for a boycott of the
which these convictions movie.
are based." He pointed to Authorities gave mixed sig-
doubts about the men's nals over the years about
confessions and problems whether they believed the
with witness identifications. film had inspired the killing.
The three confessed to and Police scoured for suspects
were convicted of mur- and eventually came to
dering token seller Harry Transit workers dismantle the charred inner wall of a token booth at the Kingston Avenue and question Irons, getting a
Kaufman in 1995. The case Fulton Street subway station in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, Nov. 26, 1995, after confession that he was act-
resounded from New York attackers sprayed a flammable liquid into the token booth and lit it on fire, according to police. ing as a lookout. He impli-
to Washington to Holly- Associated Press cated Malik and Ellerbe as
wood, after parallels were the men who had torched
drawn between the dead- done to these men by this framing suspects. going to be free," said the tollbooth.
ly arson and a scene in the failure of our system." Ellerbe, 44, was paroled in Kuby, who also represents From their arrests on, Eller-
movie "Money Train." The confessions conflicted 2020, but Malik and Irons, Ellerbe and said the latter be and Malik maintained
"The findings of an exhaus- with evidence at the scene both 45, have remained in is "extraordinarily happy" to that they had been co-
tive, years-long reinvesti- and with each other, and prison. see his conviction thrown erced into false confes-
gation of this case leave witness identifications were Malik was still getting his out. sions, with Malik saying that
us unable to stand by the problematic, prosecutors head around the long- Kaufman was working an Detective Louis Scarcella
convictions," Brooklyn Dis- say. Some of the men have awaited news Friday morn- overnight shift at a Brooklyn had screamed at him and
trict Attorney Eric Gonzalez long said they were co- ing that prosecutors were subway station on Nov. 26, slammed his head into a
said in a release. He cited erced into falsely confess- reconsidering the case, 1995, when attackers first locker. Scarcella testified
"serious problems with the ing in the case, which had lawyer Ronald Kuby said. tried to rob him, then squirt- that he cursed, pounded
evidence on which these a lead detective who later "Yesterday was the first day ed gasoline into the booth a table and was trying to
convictions are based" and was repeatedly accused that he actually allowed and ignited it with matches scare the then 18-year-old
acknowledged "the harm of forcing confessions and himself to believe that he's while he pleaded, "Don't Malik but didn't beat him.q

5-letter word for fun? Hasbro, NYT create Wordle board game

chased Wordle earlier this The appeal is its ease of Wordle was created by
year — announced Thurs- play. Start by typing in a Josh Wardle, a Brooklyn
day that Wordle: The Party five-letter word. If a square software engineer. He origi-
Game will be available for turns green, it's the right let- nally made it for his partner,
purchase in North America ter in the right place. If it but released it to the pub-
in October, with preorders turns yellow, the letter is in lic in October. On Nov. 1,
already being accepted. the word but in the incor- only 90 people had played
"Since Wordle burst onto rect spot. Gray squares it. Within two months, that
the scene, it's undoubtedly mean the letters are not in number had grown to
been a staple in social and that day's word. 300,000 as the addictive
pop culture vocabulary," The drawback is that it can phenomenon spread rap-
Adam Biehl, Pawtucket, only be played once per idly on social media.
Rhode Island-based Has- day. New York Times Games an-
bro's general manager of The board game will give nounced in January that it
gaming said in a statement. players the opportunity to had purchased the game
A Wordle game is seen on a mobile phone, Friday, July 15, 2022, "We're beyond thrilled to play against others, and for an undisclosed price it
in Boston. work with New York Times play as much as they want. described as the "low-sev-
Associated Press Games to bring our gam- One player picks a random en figures," and it now has
ing worlds together and ex- five-letter word, and the millions of players per day.
By MARK PRATT ly, and Clue is developing a tend Wordle in new ways." others try to guess it. "Wordle truly brought us all
Associated Press new one based on Wordle, In the free online version, There will also be multiple together and that's what
The company that makes the obsessively popular dig- players get six tries to guess play options, including clas- makes it so special," said
some of the world's most ital word-guessing game. a five-letter word with only sic, fast, timed, or teams, Jonathan Knight, head of
iconic board games in- Hasbro Inc. and The New the previous guess provid- Hasbro and New York Times Games for The New York
cluding Scrabble, Monopo- York Times — which pur- ing clues. Games said. Times.q