United States ยท Missouri, Jackson County
Kevin Strickland: wrongly convicted, exonerated
Convicted of One count of capital murder and two counts of second degree murder in a 1978 triple shooting in Kansas City.
ConvictedJune 1979
SentenceLife imprisonment after prosecutors withdrew the death penalty
Years in prison43
Exonerated23 November 2021
How the conviction was overturnedCourt set aside the conviction on a prosecutor's motion under a 2021 Missouri law, after the lone eyewitness recanted, Jackson County Circuit Court, Missouri (Judge James Welsh)1,2
What went wrong
- Mistaken or false identification by the sole eyewitness, who later said police pressured her
- No physical evidence linked him to the crime
- Two men who pleaded guilty later said he was not involved
From conviction to exoneration
- A first trial ended in a hung jury and an all white jury convicted him at a second trial.1,2,3
- Jackson County prosecutors declared him factually innocent following a review prompted by a 2020 Kansas City Star investigation.2
- Judge James Welsh found clear and convincing evidence to set aside the conviction, and he was released after about 43 years in custody.1,2,3
Compensation
None from the state. Missouri compensates only people exonerated by DNA testing, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Today
Exonerated and free since November 2021.
Sources
- Death Penalty Information Center, Kevin Strickland Exonerated 42 Years After Wrongful Capital Murder Conviction in Missouri (24 November 2021)
- Axios, Kevin Strickland exonerated in one of U.S.'s longest wrongful convictions cases (23 November 2021)
- CBS News, Kevin Strickland exonerated in triple murder case after more than 40 years in prison (24 November 2021)