Donations for Missouri man freed after 43 years

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Nearly $1.4 million was raised Saturday for a man who spent 43 years behind bars in front of a judge overturned his criminal record in a triple murder.

The Midwest Innocence Project has set up a GoFundMe fundraiser as they fight for Kevin Strickland’s release, noting that he will receive no compensation from Missouri and will need help paying for living expenses basic. The state only allows unjust prison payments to people who have been exonerated through DNA evidence, so 62-year-old Strickland would not be eligible.

Judge James Welsh, a retired Missouri Court of Appeals judge, ordered his release on Tuesday, found that the evidence used to convict Strickland had been dismissed or dismissed. By midday Saturday, $1.39 million had been raised to help Strickland.

Strickland has always insisted that he was at home watching television and had nothing to do with the murder, which happened in 1978 when he was 18 years old.

Upon his release from prison, he said he was “grateful to God for guiding me through this for 43 years.”