Jerry Frank Townsend, 49, who now lives in Sunrise with his sister, left Polk Correctional Institution on June 15 after DNA evidence cast doubt on his guilt.

"I've been through hell," Townsend said Wednesday. "I've been through hell for something I didn't do."

Townsend confessed to six murders and a rape in 1979. But in April, Broward County detectives learned semen found on two of the victims matched another suspected killer.

Once cleared of those slayings, investigators began to have doubts about the confessions in the other cases, believing Townsend told detectives what they wanted to hear in an effort to please them.

Townsend has an IQ between 50 and 60 and the mental capacity of an 8 year old, authorities said.

On Wednesday, Townsend met with two detectives who had fought for his release, John Curcio and Doug Evans, Jr. Townsend hugged Evans, who said he wished he had been freed sooner.

Townsend learned that he would be set free when his attorneys called him. "I dropped the phone," Townsend said.

He then went to the prison television room and told his best friend, inmate Johnny Jones, who had helped him get the DNA testing.

Since his release, Townsend has marveled at his newfound freedom. He said he can finally decide when he eats and sleeps and where he goes. He said he plans to get a job.

His sister, Mary Jones, 47, said prison life has affected her brother's behavior. He constantly looks behind him, as if he expects to be attacked, and he sits staring for hours, she said.

One of his attorneys, Barbara Heyer, said he was a target of violence in prison because he could not defend himself verbally and was nonassertive when threatened.

Jones said she and her family are trying to help Townsend "get some spirit back."

AP-ES-06-28-01 0339EDT