Insurance company compensates wrongly convicted

FRIENDSHIP, Wis. - A central Wisconsin man who spent three years in prison for a crime he did not commit has been compensated by his insurance company.

The amount of the compensation for Joseph Awe, of Friendship, has not been disclosed. Awe says there's no way to compensate him for the three years he lost while in prison for arson.

Awe was convicted of burning down J.J.'s Pub, a bar he owned with his wife in 2006. A Marquette County prosecutor alleged Awe hired someone to torch the building so he could collect insurance money.

The State Journal reports the case relied heavily on experts hired by Mt. Morris Mutual Insurance Co. A judge later ruled investigators used a discredited method to determine it was arson. The 44-year-old Awe was released from the Oregon Correctional Center in 2013.