A man who spent 27 years in prison for the deadly stabbing of a New York mother has been cleared after it emerged evidence that could have helped him was kept from his lawyers. 

Felipe Rodriguez, 54, had his murder conviction overturned in Queens on Monday in relation to the 1987 death of Maureen McNeill Fernandez.

Rodriguez had already been released from prison after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo commuted his sentence three years ago. 

But until Monday when his conviction was overturned, Rodriguez said he remained and felt like 'chains that were still attached to me'.  

Felipe Rodriguez, 54, had his murder conviction overturned in Queens, New York on Monday in relation to the 1987 death of Maureen McNeill Fernandez

'Today, the chains fell,' he said outside court. 'Today, I'm a free man.' 

Rodriguez had always denied involvement in the killing of the 35-year-old who was stabbed more than three dozen times and dumped behind a Queens warehouse. 

Rodriguez had always denied involvement in the killing of Maureen McNeill Fernandez, 35, who was stabbed more than three dozen times and dumped behind a Queens warehouse

The victim had three school-age children at the time she was killed. 

More than a year later, a police informant - who had been a suspect in the killing himself - implicated Rodriguez and became the key witness against him.

Rodriguez's attorneys at the Innocence Project say the witness later said in a secretly recorded interview that he had lied and that police had coerced him.

Rodriguez, who was a city housing department worker, an auxiliary police volunteer and a married father of a preschooler, was convicted of murder in 1990. 

He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

The Innocence Project, which has worked on the case since 2007, persuaded the Queens District Attorney's office three years ago to re-examine the case.  

Prosecutors found authorities had evidence that was favorable to Rodriguez but apparently had never been given to his initial lawyer.

Rodriguez, pictured after the exoneration hearing on Monday with his son Felipe Jr., said the chains had finally fallen after 27 years

While Rodriguez was incarcerated, he said he kept his focus on trying to return to his son. He released from prison in 2017 after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo commuted his sentence. They are pictured above reuniting following his release

Jurors never heard that evidence during his trial.

The lead detective on the case has previously said he did nothing improper in relation to the investigation.  

'It would have been a different trial,' Queens Executive Assistant District Attorney Robert Masters told the court on Monday, adding that the justice system had failed Rodriguez. 

Judge Joseph Zayas called the case a miscarriage of justice that 'took way too long to correct.' 

'Mr Rodriguez, you deserve better than that, but you never lost faith,' Zayas said.  

Since his release, Rodriguez has remarried and taken a job at a hotel. 

He said on Monday that he kept his focus in prison on trying to return to his son.

'I always said that I would get back to him, however I needed to get back to him,' Rodriguez said. 

'I just fought as hard as I could. I believe God was beside me... and I knew this day would come.' 

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