( CNN ) -- A former Akron , Ohio , police captain who was convicted of murdering his wife in 1997 has been cleared of the crime and released after more than 14 years in prison . Douglas Prade walked out of the Madison Correctional Institution around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday , CNN affiliate WOIO reported , a few hours after Summit County Common Pleas Judge Judy Hunter ruled he was innocent of the crime and ordered him released . County officials said they will appeal the decision . Margo Prade , a popular doctor , was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds in her vehicle in her office 's parking lot in November 1997 . Douglas Prade was indicted for aggravated murder the next February and convicted in September of that year . He was sentenced to life in prison . The case dominated local headlines for months and was the subject of crime shows on national TV . Although DNA tests conducted at the time were inconclusive , the main evidence against the captain was a bite mark on the victim 's arm and lab coat that a prosecution expert matched to her husband 's teeth . No weapon was found and prosecutors produced no one who witnessed the killing . With help from the University of Cincinnati 's Innocence Project , Douglas Prade appealed the conviction and eventually won a ruling from the Ohio Supreme Court in 2010 that allowed the DNA evidence to be retested using newer methods . When the results came back , none of the DNA evidence could be matched to Douglas Prade . `` The defendant has been conclusively excluded as the contributor of the male DNA on the bite mark section of the lab coat or anywhere else , '' Hunter wrote in her 26-page ruling Tuesday . Hunter also cast serious doubt on the reliability of bite-mark evidence , leaving the prosecution with little to go on . `` The DNA results prove what Prade has said all along , that he is 100 % innocent , '' Carrie Woods , Prade 's Innocence Project lawyer , said after a hearing last summer . `` The Court is not unsympathetic to the family members , friends and community who want to see justice for Dr. Prade , '' Hunter wrote . `` However , the evidence that the defendant presented in this case is clear and convincing . Based on the review of the conclusive Y-STR DNA test results and the evidence from the 1998 trial , the court is firmly convinced that no reasonable juror would convict the defendant for the crime of aggravated murder with a firearm . '' She ordered that Prade be released from prison `` forthwith . '' Summit County law enforcement officials were dismayed at the decision . `` This is a gross misapplication of the law , and we will be appealing Prade 's exoneration , '' county Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh said in a news release . `` All of the evidence clearly points to Prade as Dr. Margo Prade 's killer , '' Akron Police Chief James Nice said in the same release . `` He was proven guilty in front of a jury using a substantial amount of other evidence . '' If Ohio 's Ninth District Court of Appeals reverses Hunter 's ruling , the state will have 30 days to file a motion seeking a new trial , Walsh 's office said . `` I feel like my life is in danger and my family 's life is in danger now . ( Dr. Prade and her mother ) are probably turning over in their graves , but God will have the final say , '' Tony Fowler , Margo Prade 's nephew , told CNN affiliate WEWS . `` The decision is unfair and unjust , in my opinion , '' Tammy Fowler , a niece , told the station .
Judge in Akron , Ohio , finds man innocent of crime for which he was convicted in 1998 . Capt . Douglas Prade was found guilty of killing his wife , Dr. Margo Prade . He is sentenced to life without parole and dies shortly after being released from prison. Innocence Project client released from prison hours later ; prosecutors will appeal .