DALLAS – A Dallas County courtroom erupted in applause Friday as two men wrongly convicted of capital murder 12 years ago were set free.

Fifty-four-year-old Claude Simmons Jr. and 39-year-old Christopher Scott had been serving life sentences for the 1997 murder of Alfonso Aguilar. Recently, another man confessed to the crime. So a state district judge in Dallas ordered Simmons and Scott released during a Friday court hearing.

Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins said a joint investigation between the Dallas Police Department’s Cold Case Unit and the Conviction Integrity Unit of the prosecutor’s office led to the developments.

Prosecutors said Alonzo Hardy, 49, confessed to the crime in a sworn statement from prison last summer. His alleged accomplice, Don Michael Anderson, 40, was arrested Tuesday night in the Houston area. Anderson was charged with capital murder, but Hardy has not yet been charged.

Hardy, who has been in state prison since 1999, is serving a 30-year-sentence on an unrelated aggravated robbery committed about a year after the murder, prosecutors said.

State District Judge Robert Burns apologized for the mistakes that were made in the past and asked that the two to not be bitter and enjoy the freedom they are about to experience.

2 Exonerated Men Set Free