gravestones
Julie Hambleton
Julie Hambleton
November 30, 2021 ·  4 min read

He visited his mother’s grave for the first time after spending 43 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit

Imagine living nearly your entire adult life behind bars because of a false accusation. This is what happened to Kevin Strickland. After 43-years in prison for a triple murder that he didn’t commit, the court has finally exonerated him. He was then finally able to visit his mother’s grave who died while he was locked up. (1)

Kevin Strickland Exonerated After Being Falsely Accused of Murder 43 Years Ago

Kevin Strickland’s recent exoneration is a monumental one because this makes his wrongful confinement the longest in the history of Missouri. The first thing he did after his release was to visit his mother’s grave.

“To know my mother was underneath that dirt and I hadn’t gotten a chance to visit with her in the last years … I revisited those tears that I did when they told me I was guilty of a crime I didn’t commit,” he said.

Authorities put Kevin behind bars in June 1979, when he was just 19 years old. There he lived nearly 43 years of his 50-year sentence. Now he’s out, but of course, the world is radically different than the last time he walked around a free man. (2)

Kevin Strickland
Image Credit: The Midwest Innocence Project via BBC

The False Accusation

On April 25, 1978, four people were shot in Kansas City, Missouri. Of those four, three of them died. The one survivor testified in the court hearings. She first identified two men – Vincent Bell and Kiln Adkins – as the culprits. They both pleaded guilty. She did not identify Kevin, who she knew. A day later, however, someone suggested to her that Kevin’s hair matched the description of the shooter. The witness then said that Kevin was there and that the reason she didn’t say so before was due to a combination of cognac and marijuana use.

With that, Kevin was charged with one account of first and two accounts of second-degree murder and put behind bars. Meanwhile, the two other men, who pleaded guilty, served only 10 years each. Though the witness died in 2015, she spent the last 30 years before that working with The Innocence Project trying to get Kevin freed.

Read: DNA Evidence May Clear Executed Man Who Spent 22 Years Insisting He Was Innocent Of Murder

Finally Free

The Innocence Project has not stopped working with Kevin’s lawyer to get him back into the real world. They finally succeeded, and the courts exonerated Kevin last week. For the first time in nearly 43 years, Kevin is now walking free. 

While this is great news, there is a mix of emotions. Now 62, Kevin has spent his entire life in prison. He was unable to spend time with his mother in her final years and missed her funeral. On top of that, being in prison has robbed him of the ability to build a life and a career for himself. 

“We were confident any judge who saw the evidence would find Mr Strickland is innocent and that is exactly what happened,” said Midwest Innocence Project legal director Tricia Rojo Bushnell in a statement. “Nothing will give him the 43 years he has lost and he returns home to a state that will not pay him a cent for the time it stole from him. That is not justice.”

Justice Not Served

Though most exonerated inmates are eligible for compensation from their state, Kevin likely won’t receive a dime. This is because, under Missouri law, your exoneration has to have been DNA evidence-based. His, however, was not. This means he now has to start a new life for himself at 62 years old with nothing, and in a world with which he is completely unfamiliar. His first night out, he said, was actually quite scary.

“I’m used to living in a close, confined cell where I know exactly what’s going on in there with me,” he said. “And being home and you hear the creaks of the home settling and the electrical wiring and whatever else … I was kind of afraid. I thought somebody was coming to get me.”

Normally, people like Kevin are eligible for $50 per day of wrongful incarceration, according to Missouri state law. This would mean $774,350 for Kevin. According to federal law, the wrongfully convicted stand to earn $50,000 per year behind bars. This makes that number even higher. Still, it’s not looking like he’ll get anything.

Public Support

The Innocence project started a GoFundMe page to support Kevin and help him get on his feet. As of this past weekend, that fund had already reached $1.65 million. If you wish to support Kevin, you can also visit the fundraising page and donate.


Keep Reading: Veteran Sentenced To Life in Prison for Selling $30 of Marijuana Will Be Freed

Sources

  1. He visited his mother’s grave for the first time after spending 43 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit.” CNN. Alisha Ebrahimji. November 24, 2021.
  2. Kevin Strickland: Fundraiser for exonerated Missouri man tops $1.5m.” BBC