After 43 years in prison, Kevin Strickland could be acquitted of innocence. The man, now 62, was convicted of a triple murder in Missouri, USA, to which he never confessed.
The man who after 43 years in prison could be released for being innocent
Kevin Strickland did not want to negotiate, he never confessed to the triple murder for which he was finally sentenced to 50 years in prison: he has always proclaimed that he was not involved in the events. When he passed through the gates of the Western Missouri Correctional Center in Cameron, United States, he was 18 years old and now, after 43 years, he “runs the risk” of leaving that prison as innocent.
In fact, at a hearing last Monday Strickland, now 62, issued a spontaneous statement in which he again asserted his innocence and Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker seems to agree.
It all started last May with a letter that reached the Missouri Supreme Court requesting Strickland’s release as innocent, a thesis supported by an investigation conducted by the County Attorney’s Convictions Integrity Unit that examines cases in which claims of “innocence” are made after convictions.
“Based on the quantity and quality of evidence available today, this office would not charge Mr. Strickland with any crime – the letter states – reliable and corroborated evidence now demonstrates that Mr. Strickland is in fact innocent of the charges for which he was sentenced in 1979.”
Charging him in 1979 was the sole survivor of the April 25, 1978 shooting in Kansas City, Missouri, which resulted in the deaths of three people – Cynthia Douglas. The woman, who died in 2015, had acknowledged Strickland’s presence at the scene of the crime along with two other people, later convicted, a version she has always recanted over the past 30 years, justifying the confused memories by the use of alcohol and narcotic substances.
The hearing ended on Wednesday and the judge was able to comment on his decision in a very short time: “We cannot predict when the court will make a decision but we believe that the judge understands and appreciates the decision, the importance of a timely decision in a case like this”.
