Marion Bae, FISM News
Kevin Strickland, 62, was convicted in the 1978 Kansas City triple murder of Sherrie Black, Larry Ingram, and John Walker. This past Tuesday Judge James Welsh overturned Strickland’s conviction and ordered his immediate release after 43 years in prison.
The two main reasons the judge gave regarding overturning the conviction were the lack of physical evidence, there was none that tied Kevin Strickland to the crime, and the fact that the only eyewitness had tried to recant her testimony. Strickland has maintained his innocence from the beginning.
According to The New York Times, Strickland was chosen out of a lineup by the eyewitness, Cynthia Douglas, who had also been shot in the attack. There were four men thought to be involved, though at first Douglas identified two, Vincent Bell and Kilm Adkins. Both men plead guilty to the murders in 1979, but Bell, according to a letter written by the exonerating judge, “remained adamant that Strickland was not present at the crime scene and played no part in the commission of the triple homicide.”
The National Registry of Exonerations shows that Strickland’s 43-year sentence is the longest served of anyone who was eventually exonerated in Missouri.
Judge Welsh wrote in his ruling that “the Court’s confidence in Strickland’s convictions is so undermined that it cannot stand, and the judgement of conviction must be set aside.”
According to the Associated Press, Strickland claimed he learned about his exoneration while watching a soap opera, during which the news started scrolling across the bottom of the screen, which was followed by screams from fellow inmates.
The AP quotes Strickland as telling reporters outside the correctional facility where he was held, “I’m not necessarily angry. It’s a lot. I think I’ve created emotions that you all don’t know about just yet… Joy, sorrow, fear. I am trying to figure out how to put them together.”
Strickland was only 18 at the time of the murders and has spent most of his adult life behind bars.
However, not everyone seems to be on the side of this judgement. According to the AP, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt had maintained the conviction and pressed to keep him incarcerated. A spokesman for Schmitt said after the trial, “In this case, we defended the rule of law and the decision that a jury of Mr. Strickland’s peers made after hearing all of the facts in the case. The Court has spoken. No further action will be taken in this matter.”
Schmitt, a Republican, is currently running for Senate.
Following Strickland’s release, while he went to visit the grave of his mother, the public began calling for reparations.
Strickland’s attorney Tricia Rojo Bushnell did a phone interview with The Washington Post on Friday, in which she said, “Missouri is not going to pay Mr. Strickland a dime, but the whole world is going to make sure he’s compensated,”
Supporters for Strickland have raised over $1,300,000 to date through a GoFundMe campaign set up by Bushnell. The campaign was set up November 23rd and has over 23.9k donations, ranging from $10 to $10,000. The funds are said to go directly to Strickland to pay for his new life.