Kevin Strickland

Kevin Bernard Strickland (born June 7, 1959) is an American man who, in 1979, was wrongfully convicted, by an all-white jury, of killing three people in Kansas City, Missouri. No physical evidence linked him to the crime scene and the only alleged witness later recanted her testimony that Strickland was involved, stating that she had been coerced by police. Strickland was given a life sentence. In 2021, he garnered national attention after former prosecutors in his case said that he was innocent and called for his release.

Two black men, who pled guilty to the murders, said that Strickland was not involved, and a fingerprint from the shotgun used in the murders belonged to someone else. The Missouri Attorney General fought in court to keep him in prison, saying he believed he was guilty.

On November 23, 2021, Judge James Welsh overturned Strickland's conviction "since it was not based on physical evidence but on eye-witness testimony …, who later recanted her account", and Strickland was released on the same day. He was exonerated after more than 42 years in prison, "making his case the longest confirmed wrongful-conviction case in Missouri’s history".

Crime and trials On April 25, 1978, in Kansas City, Missouri, three people were killed when a group of assailants ransacked a house. The victims were 22-year-old Sherrie Black, 21-year-old Larry Ingram, and 20-year-old John Walker. Kevin Strickland, who was then 18 years old, said at the time he was watching television and talking on the phone, and that the next morning police began accusing him of the murders.

Two suspects, Kilm Adkins and Vincent Bell, were later arrested. Bell was a childhood friend of Strickland's, and lived at a house nearby. Police found a fingerprint belonging to Strickland on Bell's car; Strickland says this was because he had driven the car before, but the last time he had seen Adkins and Bell was at 5 or 6 p.m. on the night of the murders. she picked out him in a police lineup. Douglas later said she was pressured into naming him as one of the perpetrators by detectives on the case, and until her death in 2015 attempted to have her testimony recanted.

Calls for release Strickland was the subject of an investigation by The Kansas City Star in September 2020, which prompted prosecutors to review the case. On May 10, 2021, Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker published a letter saying she believed he was innocent and should be released from prison. Assistant attorney general of Missouri, Andrew Clarke, said the attorney general's office believes Strickland to be guilty and thinks he should remain in prison, saying that Strickland had "worked to evade responsibility."

Hearing leading to exoneration In November 2021, Baker coordinated a three-day hearing, to present the case for the reversal of Strickland's verdicts. She said, "One of the reasons I'm proud of this system, and one of the reasons I know that it is one of the best systems in the world even when we stand amid a terrible mistake, is because we have built into our system an ability to correct wrongs." "I now trust in you to return just a fraction of what we've all lost, what Mr. Strickland lost, by bringing him home." Prior to his exoneration, Strickland said upon his release that he wanted to see the ocean. If his case qualified for state compensation, the amount could be much more; in other states compensation of over $20 million was paid in similar cases. In few days after his release, donations multiplied and the raised amount went over $1 million by more than 14,000 people.