Woman looks forward to release from prison

Friday, February 4th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

SHAWNEE, Okla. (AP) -- After his daughter was found guilty of abduction and murder in 1988, Jack Butler started an investigation to prove to himself that she was guilty, so he could better accept the conviction. But the evidence he turned up left him sure she was innocent, so he set out to prove it to others.

This week the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver gave Horton's family the news it had waited so long to hear, when it reversed the conviction of 36-year-old Cynthia Butler Horton. "I owe my family my life -- without them, I would be here for a very long time," Cynthia Horton told the Shawnee-News Star. "I always believed in my family. I want to be there for them like they've been there for me."

The woman, formerly of Prague, was convicted in Seminole County on one count of first-degree murder and one count of kidnapping. The case involved the death of Edward Lee "Abe" Opela of Prague. Horton, who was 24 at the time of her conviction, received a life sentence for murder and a 10-year prison term on the kidnapping charge. She is imprisoned at Central Oklahoma Correctional Facility near McLoud.

Jack Butler, a former military investigator, estimates his family spent up to $175,000 trying to clear his daughter's name. He and his wife, Lori, lost their home in Prague and now live in Shawnee.

In its 3-0 ruling, the federal appeals court said Cynthia Horton did not have effective assistance of counsel during her trial. Horton, her former husband Mike Horton and Walter Barrowman were all charged in connection with Opela's killing. Mike Horton was tried twice for the murder -- with one jury unable to reach a verdict and a second acquitting him. Barrowman was convicted of murder and kidnapping, but that conviction was later overturned by the judge.

Horton, who said she is overwhelmed and relieved by the court's decision after so many appeal denials, maintains her innocence. "I knew I was innocent from the beginning," she said. "I've been given the chance I wanted for 13 years -- to prove I'm innocen tof that murder. "I'm ready to go home and make everything right," she said. "Prison isn't the place to be when you don't deserve to be here."