Sandra Hemme has spent almost all of her adult life in prison for a 1980 murder in St. Joseph, Missouri.

A woman who served 43 years for a murder she did not commit has been released after her conviction was overturned.

Sandra Hemme was 20 years old when she was found guilty of stabbing to death library worker Patricia Jeschke from St Joseph, Missouri, in November 1980. She was given a life sentence.

There was no evidence that linked her to the crime other than a confession she gave under heavy sedation in a psychiatric hospital, a review into her case found.

Now 64, she is believed to have served the longest known wrongful conviction of a woman in US history according to her representatives.

  • kn0wmad1c@programming.devEnglish
    57·
    5 months ago

    The review found that local police ignored evidence that directly pointed to one of their own officers - Michael Holman – who later went to prison for another crime and died in 2015.

    Holman’s truck was seen in the area the day of the murder, his alibi could not be corroborated, and he used Patricia Jeschke’s credit card after claiming he found it in a ditch.

    A pair of distinctive gold earrings identified by Ms Jeschke’s father were also found in Holman’s home.

    What the actual fuck.

    • cordlesslamp@lemmy.today
      12·
      5 months ago

      You couldn’t even write a legal drama TV episode with that. There’s no mystery, no doubt. Everything is just blatantly clear.