The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court acquitted Muthukumar, Selvaraj, Selvapandi and Thoongan alias Urathevar of life sentences previously imposed for the murders of Kannan and Periyasamy, and directed departmental action against the investigating officer [The Hindu]. In an unrelated case, a South Carolina jury found store owner Rick Chow not guilty of murder in the 2023 shooting of Cyrus Carmack-Belton [wach.com]. The two incidents involve distinct jurisdictions, facts and legal issues.