A Marine, Robert Hurysz survived two tours in Vietnam, only to be gunned down while frequenting his favorite Rochester watering hole.

Hurysz was 36 when he was fatally shot during a robbery of  September 1984, at Rico’s Restaurant, a bar on Lexington Avenue on the city’s west side. On Tuesday, Michael Rhynes, one of the men convicted of murder in the robbery, was released from prison after two men admitted they’d lied when they testified at his trial that he’d admitted to the crimes.

Hurysz’ sister, Bernice, learned of Rhynes’ freedom late Tuesday after a friend who’d seen a television news segment called her.

“I’m very upset,” she said in a telephone interview. “I didn’t realize any of this was happening.”

Robert was three years older than Bernice. A younger brother, Michael Bergen, is also deceased.

A certain maturity

Robert had a certain maturity that endeared him to older people, people like Enrico “Rico” Ferrari, the owner of Rico’s. Ferrari was also murdered in the robbery attempt. He was 67. According to Bernice, Robert went to his aid during the robbery and was shot.

“I’m not painting a halo around him but elderly people really liked him,” Bernice said of Robert.

“He was basically the hub of our family,” she said. Their parents died when she and her siblings were young and “Michael and I went into two separate foster homes.”

Robert enlisted and worked to keep the family in communication and intact.

After Robert returned from Vietnam, both brothers worked at the Rochester Products Division of General Motors. Like many others, they had their paychecks cashed at Rico’s.

Police suspected Rico’s was targeted on a day when cash was ample there. There was more than $15,000 on site when robbed.

Michael was, in fact, heading to Rico’s when he learned there’d been a robbery. A front-page Democrat and Chronicle photo shows him helping place his brother into an ambulance.

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Rochester Products foreman

Robert was a foreman at the Rochester Products plant, which shut down so his colleagues could attend his funeral. Many of his friends at the plant came to Bernice in the days after, asking for keepsakes to remember him by, even his work boots.

The circumstantial case against Rhynes was so weak that, in 1986, the district attorney’s office wanted to dismiss it. A judge, however, refused.

Two men who’d been in jail with Rhynes afterward came forward and said he’d admitted to the robbery and murders while in jail. Those statements became the foundation of the criminal case against Rhynes.

This year, both men admitted that they’d lied to secure better deals. Based on those recantations, a judge tossed out the conviction of Rhynes.

More: Rochester man freed after 37 years in prison for murder conviction based on lies

The Monroe County District Attorney’s Office has indicated that a retrial is unlikely. Rhynes is scheduled to return to court Jan. 8.

Bernice said she hopes to meet soon with prosecutors to get a better understanding of the factors that led to Rhynes’ freedom.

“I need answers,” she said.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Robert Hurysz, murdered in wrongful conviction case, remembered