Missouri woman’s murder conviction overturned after spending 43 years in prison
After spending 43 years behind bars, a woman who was a psychiatric patient when she incriminated herself in a 1980 Missouri murder has had her conviction overturned. Sandra Hemme’s lawyers claim that a disgraced police officer was responsible for the killing of 31-year-old library worker Patricia Jeschke, making this the longest time a woman has been imprisoned for a wrongful conviction in US history.
On Friday, Judge Ryan Horsman ruled that the 63-year-old had proven evidence of actual innocence, citing ineffective trial counsel and failure by prosecutors to disclose evidence that could have aided her case. He ordered her release within 30 days unless prosecutors choose to retry her. However, Hemme’s lawyers, working with the Innocence Project, are pushing for her immediate release.
In a statement, they expressed gratitude to the Court for acknowledging the injustice Hemme endured and vowed to continue fighting to clear her name and reunite her with her family.
The brutal murder of Ms Jeschke made headlines after her mother discovered her naked body in her apartment surrounded by blood on 13 November 1980 in St Joseph, Missouri.
According to her lawyers, Hemme, heavily sedated and wearing leather restraints, was unable to provide coherent responses when initially questioned about Jeschke’s death.
A petition seeking her exoneration alleged that authorities overlooked her inconsistent statements and suppressed evidence pointing to Michael Holman, a 22-year-old police officer who attempted to use the victim’s credit card on the day of the murder.
The judge determined that there was no evidence linking Hemme to the crime, while evidence directly implicated Holman, who was previously questioned and later fired for burglary and insurance fraud before passing away in 2015.
