Kansas man wrongly imprisoned for 15 years to be awarded $7.5 million

OSKALOOSA (KSNT) – A Kansas man who spent 15 years in prison for a rape and murder he did not commit is set to be awarded $7.5 million in a proposed settlement with Jefferson County.

Floyd Bledsoe was convicted of the 1999 killing and rape of 14-year-old Camille Arfmann, of Oskaloosa. He was released from prison in late 2015 after DNA evidence linked his father and brother to the crime.

Bledsoe later sued Jefferson County and four of its law enforcement officers in federal court. He claimed his brother confessed several times to the crime, but investigators coached him to instead implicate Bledsoe.

Last week at Jefferson County’s commission meeting, County Attorney Joshua Ney presented the board with a proposed agreement to pay Bledsoe a total settlement of $7.5 million over the next ten years, with an initial payment of $1.5 million. The commissioners voted unanimously to approve the settlement agreement.