Man wrongly convicted for 1976 Bladen County murders dies

BLADEN COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A man who spent 37 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit has died.

Joseph Sledge was exonerated in January 2015 for the 1976 murders of a mother and her daughter in Bladen County.

According to Sledge’s obituary, he died on Dec. 1 at the age of 76.

Sledge spent more than half his life in prison. Sledge escaped from White Lake Prison Camp, a minimum security facility, after an argument with another inmate on Sept. 6, 1976. The same night, Josephine and Ailene Davis were stabbed to death in their Elizabethtown home.

Sledge said he escaped the prison to avoid a confrontation with the other inmate. David said Sledge had escaped from other prisons in the past. Sledge’s criminal history includes two convictions for escape attempts, as well as the one for his successful 1976 escape.

Evidence presented at December 2014’s innocence hearing included newly-discovered physical evidence and retractions from a jailhouse informant who originally testified.