However, the confession landed Cabanillas behind bars for almost three decades, until DNA testing showed that someone else had committed the crime. Cabanillas was charged in 1995 with a brutal armed robbery and sexual assault of a young woman in South Gate, Los Angeles. The 18-year-old was involved in another robbery in the region and matched the description given by the victim, after which the police assumed that there was a link between the two crimes.
DNA testing not only proved Cabanillas’ innocence, but also identified another suspect, who is already in prison awaiting trial for murder. The suspect is said to have also confessed to other sexual crimes.