from www.nydailynews.com – A Bronx jury acquitted the man dubbed the “Nude Housekeeper” on Thursday, rejecting DNA evidence and a confession that he fatally stabbed a client in 2001.
Jurors took two hours to reach the verdict, leaving defendant Thomas Cordero in tears – and vowing to find a new profession.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Cordero told the Supreme Court panel.
Cordero was free last night for the first time since his 2007 arrest and confession to killing paralegal John Conley.
“I’m relieved. I got my life back,” he told reporters.
Prosecutors said Conley, 50, hired Cordero through the website Rentboy.com to clean his Bronx home in the nude in October 2001.
In a taped statement, Cordero, 41, claimed Conley tried to rape him and that he took a knife from the victim and stabbed him.
Testifying at his trial, Cordero recanted his confession, saying he never went to Conley’s apartment and that cold-case Detective Steven Berger coerced his admission. He also said he feared cops would sodomize him with a broomstick if he didn’t profess his guilt.
“I didn’t kill the guy,” Cordero said last night.
He vowed to give up nude housecleaning, saying, “This has made me rethink that.”
Despite DNA evidence linking Cordero to the crime scene, jurors believed he was forced to confess. “I personally didn’t find what the detective said very believable,” said juror Juan Azcona, 20.
Another juror, who did not want to be identified, added: “I’m not sure if he’s guilty or innocent. I just don’t think there was enough evidence.”
Cordero’s lawyer, Harvey Slovis, praised the jury for doing “the right thing.”