Thursday, May 13, 2021

Man who served 42 years in prison for triple murder is innocent, prosecutor says

https://news.yahoo.com/man-served-42-years-prison-161123747.html

 

Biba Adams
Wed, May 12, 2021, 12:11 PM

 

TheGrio

A Missouri prosecutor released a statement on Monday proclaiming that a man who has been in prison for more than 42 years is innocent.

“All those who have reviewed the evidence in recent months agree — Kevin Strickland deserves to be exonerated,” said Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker. “This is a profound error we must correct now.”

Strickland’s 1978 prosecution relied greatly on the testimony of one woman. That witness died in 2015, but prosecutors note that for years, she wished and attempted to recant her testimony.

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“Keeping him incarcerated now on a jury verdict, where the jury heard none of this convincing exculpatory evidence, serves no conceivably just purpose,” Baker and Chief Deputy Daniel M. Nelson stated in a joint letter to Strickland’s attorneys.

A letter to the court notes that the now-deceased witness, Cynthia Douglas, was traumatized after witnessing the triple murder and was also shot on that fateful day. She said she only identified Strickland after he was suggested as a suspect by someone else.

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