US Woman Wrongly Convicted of Murder Freed After 43 Years in Prison

A Missouri woman, Sandra “Sandy” Hemme, has been exonerated and released from prison after spending 43 years behind bars for a murder she did not commit. Hemme, now 63, was convicted in 1985 based on statements she made while she was a psychiatric patient, which led to her wrongful life sentence for the 1980 murder of Patricia Jeschke, a library worker in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Livingston County Circuit Judge Ryan Horsman ruled on Friday that there is “clear and convincing” evidence proving Hemme’s innocence. The evidence implicates a former local police officer, Michael Holman, who later went to prison for another crime and has since died.

Judge Horsman stated that Hemme, who has spent over four decades in prison, must be released within 30 days unless prosecutors choose to re-try her. This decision followed a January hearing where Hemme’s legal team presented evidence linking Holman to Jeschke’s murder.

Hemme’s attorneys, from the Innocence Project, argued that authorities had ignored inconsistencies in Hemme’s statements and failed to disclose evidence that could have supported her defense. Hemme had initially pleaded guilty to capital murder to avoid the death penalty, but her conviction was overturned on appeal. She was retried and convicted again in 1985, based solely on her contradictory and factually impossible confession made during psychiatric treatment.

At the time of the crime, Hemme, then 20, was undergoing treatment for auditory hallucinations, derealization, and drug use. Her legal team noted her extensive history of psychiatric care, which began at the age of 12.

Her attorneys expressed their gratitude for the court’s recognition of the grave injustice Hemme endured. “We are grateful to the Court for acknowledging the grave injustice Ms. Hemme has endured for more than four decades,” they stated.

Hemme’s case marks the longest-known wrongful conviction of a woman in US history.