Glen Chapman, 40, was released from Central Prison on Wednesday

Glen Chapman, 40, was released from Central Prison on Wednesday after Catawba County District Attorney James Gaither Jr. dismissed murder charges against him. Last November 6 (see), Superior Court Judge Robert C. Ervin found that an investigator withheld evidence and lied in court, and that Chapman was inadequately defended by his court-appointed attorneys. Ervin sent the case back for another trial, but Gaither, in dismissing the charges, said there was not enough evidence for a retrial. Chapman is the 7th innocent death row prisoner in North Carolina to be released, according to the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington. He was sentenced to death in November 1994 in the June 12, 1992 killings of Betty Jean Ramseur, 31, and the Aug. 14, 1992 killing of Tenene Yvette Conley, 28. Their bodies were found in abandoned houses in August 1992. Chapman has always denied killing them. Ervin's 186-page order said a lead investigator, Dennis Rhoney, withheld information that a key witness in the Ramseur case identified someone other than Chapman in a photo lineup. Rhoney, who worked for the Hickory Police Department, also lied during his trial testimony against Chapman, Ervin wrote. Ervin added that a report by a forensic scientist showed that one of the victims likely died of a drug overdose, rather than by foul play. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the nearly 14 years Chapman spent on death row was the longest stint of any North Carolina death row inmate released because of innocence. Gov. Mike Easley would have to sign a pardon for the state to pay Chapman. Though Chapman said he hasn't thought about trying to get state money, his attorneys said they would consider applying for a pardon.