Kevin Strickland Free: Man jailed for murders he didn’t commit is released after 43 years

Kevin Strickland Free: Man jailed for murders he didn’t commit is released after 43 years

The man, who was in jail for 43 years for a triple murder he says he didn’t commit, has been released and exonerated.

KEVIN STRICKLAND is finally free and will be immediately discharged from custody and released after spending 43 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.

In one of the longest wrongful conviction cases in US history, Strickland – a black man – was convicted by an all-white jury in a 1978 triple murder in Kansas City.

The 62-year-old has pleaded his innocence ever since he was arrested for the deaths of Sherrie Black, 22, Larry Ingram, 22, and John Walker, 20, on 25 April 1978.

Judge James Welsh wrote in his ruling: “Strickland was convicted solely on the eyewitness testimony of (Cynthia) Douglas, who subsequently recanted her statements identifying him as one of the four perpetrators.

“Under these unique circumstances, the Court’s confidence in Strickland’s conviction is so undermined that it cannot stand, and the judgment of conviction must be set aside.

“The State of Missouri shall immediately discharge Kevin Bernard Strickland from its custody.”

Speaking to The Washington Post before today’s hearing, Strickland said that he would be visiting his mother’s grave if he were ever set free.