One of three plaintiffs wrongfully accused of murdering 12-year-old Stephanie Crowe has agreed to a settlement, according to court documents obtained by the North County Times.
Aaron Houser agreed to settle for an undisclosed amount of money in a lawsuit against four Escondido police officers, an Oceanside police officer, and a psychologist, the paper reported.
The case began on the morning of Jan. 21, 1998, when the Crowes' grandmother found the dead girl in her Escondido bedroom.
Investigators quickly focused on Stephanie's brother, 14-year-old Michael Crowe, noting that their suspicion was aroused when they noticed him emotionlessly playing a handheld video game while the rest of the family grieved the morning his sister's body was discovered.
Soon after, investigators implicated Michael's friends, Aaron Houser and Joshua Treadway.
The three boys were repeatedly interrogated over many hours until Crowe and Treadway confessed.
A judge later found that those confessions were made by scared teens worn down by what the appeals court described as "hours of grueling, psychologically abusive interrogation."
Michael Crowe is still suing over the matter. Trial is set to begin Oct. 31.
Treadway dropped out of the lawsuit several years ago.
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