The prisoner was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1979 for a triple murder without any physical evidence to prove that he was involved in the crime.
A judge in Missouri (USA) on Tuesday ordered the release of Kevin Strickland, who has spent 43 years in jail, considering that this African-American was wrongly convicted of a triple murder in 1978.
In his decision, Judge James Welsh concluded that there was “no physical evidence directly implicating Strickland” in the murder of Sherrie Black, Larry Ingram and John Walker in Kansas City, Missouri.
“Strickland was convicted solely on the testimony of a witness (Cinthya) Douglas, who later reverted to her statements, in which she identified him as one of the four perpetrators” of the crime, Welsh argued in his resolution.
Consequently, the judge on Tuesday asked for “the immediate release” of Strickland, 62.
This man was convicted in 1979 by an all-white jury and sentenced to life in prison without bail for 50 years.
Strickland was tried twice: the first trial was declared void, as the jury was unable to agree to produce a verdict, and the second was when he was found guilty.
Efforts to Exonerate You from an Erroneous Sentence
Efforts to review this case for an exoneration of Strickland have multiplied over the years, culminating in a hearing this month in which the incriminating evidence was examined and his defense presented other exonerating evidence.
Strickland is the longest-serving inmate mistakenly behind bars in the state of Missouri and one of the longest mistakenly imprisoned in US history.
In 2009, the same witness who accused him of being involved in the crime and who later gave up, tried to launch a process to free him.
In an email to the Midwest Innocence Project, Douglas requested information on how to help “someone wrongly accused”: “This incident happened in 1978, I was the only eyewitness and things were unclear back then, but now I know more and I want to help this person if I can. “
However, Douglas passed away in 2015 before he could officially revoke his testimony. (I)
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