Joao Monterio’s life was upended when he was arrested five years ago for the 1988 death of 10-year-old Christine Cole. The city of Pawtucket still will not admit to wrongdoing, his lawyer said.

The Central Falls man wrongfully accused of killing a 10-year-old girl more than three decades ago has reached a settlement agreement in his lawsuit against the Pawtucket Police Department.

A man once accused of the cold-case killing of a Pawtucket girl will get a million dollar payout after he sued police and the city.Joao Monteiro reached a settlement Tuesday in his lawsuit.Monteiro was arrested in 2019,

Big” preceded John Monteiro’s first name on the work shirt he wore when sheriffs led him in handcuffs into Providence District Court on July 18, 2019. Online comments would soon offer other names for the man Pawtucket police had charged with first-degree murder in the death of a 10-year-old girl four decades ago.