Kevin Strickland released from prison after wrongful conviction overturned

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Free them all!

Source: Kansas City Star / Getty

62-year-old Kevin Strickland was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after he was convicted of a triple homicide that he did not commit back in 1979 in Kansas City. According to DailyMail, last Tuesday, Strickland was released from prison after 40 years following another man who testified under oath that he alone had committed the murders and that Strickland was not involved in any way. The eyewitnesses in the case also withdrew their previous sworn testimonies.

An online fundraiser that was organized by The Midwest Innocence Project raised an incredible $1.5 million for Strickland upon his release. The 40 bid took so much away from him that at the time of this publishing, he does not even have a bank account to transfer his generous donations into. Moreover, while he expressed immense gratitude for the funds, Strickland says it is not the community-at-large that owes him, it’s the “criminal justice system” that failed him that has the responsibility of debt repayment.

‘The courts failed me and that’s who should be trying to make my life a little more comfortable,’ he said. ‘I really do appreciate the donations and contributions they made to try to help me acclimate to society.’

The obvious question you would ask anyone in Mr. Strickland’s position is “How do you feel?” The seemingly obvious answer to that query would be “Mad as hell!”. We would totally understand if that was the case, however…

I’m not necessarily angry. It’s a lot. I think I’ve created emotions that you all don’t know about just yet,’ he told reporters as he left the Western Missouri Correctional Center in Cameron.

‘Joy, sorrow, fear. I am trying to figure out how to put them together.’

All we can say is that Kevin Strickland is a better man than us because we’d be bitter than a MF after spending what could amount to 50% of our life in the bing. We can only hope that he can heal and use that money to spend the rest of his days however he sees fit.