Discover the Story: How Fresh Evidence Liberated a Woman After 13 Years
A Missouri woman, Sandra Hemme, was recently released after serving 43 years in prison for a murder conviction that was overturned due to new evidence proving her innocence.
Hemme was convicted for the 1980 murder of Patricia Jeschke, based on a coerced confession obtained while she was in a vulnerable mental state at a psychiatric hospital.
The confession was later deemed unreliable, and evidence pointing to another suspect, a now-deceased police officer, was ignored during her trial.
Despite court rulings confirming her innocence, her release was delayed as the Missouri Attorney General’s office fought to keep her incarcerated, citing unrelated assault convictions from her time in prison.
However, courts ultimately ruled these delays unjust, and she was finally freed.
Hemme’s case highlights significant flaws in the justice system, including improper evidence handling and the challenges of overturning wrongful convictions.