MUNSTER, Ind. (AP) - A man who struck a deal with prosecutors to avoid facing the death penalty after being convicted of killing a Gary police officer will be released from prison next year.
Zolo Agona Azania is scheduled to be released on Feb. 8, according to The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Allen County juries sentenced Azania, formerly known as Rufus Averhart, to death twice for killing Gary police Lt. George Yaros during a 1981 bank robbery. According to the Gary Fraternal Order of Police website, Yaros was a 29-year-veteran who was less than a year away from retirement when he died.
The Indiana Supreme Court overturned the sentences but upheld the conviction in 2008. Prosecutors said at the time they agreed to the deal because many witnesses had died or were no longer available to testify.
Azania is being held at the Miami Correctional Facility near Bunker Hill, 60 miles north of Indianapolis.
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