Woman freed after 43 years: Longest wrongful imprisonment for a woman in US history

Sandra Hemme, a woman who served 43 years for a murder she did not commit, has been released after her conviction was overturned.

Hemme, who was 20 at the time, was found guilty in November 1980 of stabbing library worker Patricia Jeschke, then 31, to death in St. Joseph, Missouri. She received a life sentence.

A recent case review revealed that her conviction was based solely on a confession made under heavy sedation in a psychiatric hospital, with no other evidence linking her to the crime, according to the BBC.

Now 64, Hemme is believed to have endured the longest known wrongful imprisonment of a woman in American history, according to her representatives.

Judge threatens contempt, secures Hemme’s release

Hemme, was released from prison on Friday in Chillicothe after a judge threatened to hold the attorney general’s office in contempt if they continued opposing her release. She reunited with her family at a nearby park, embracing her daughter and granddaughter, while her sister, Joyce Ann Kays, smiled broadly.

The judge had initially ruled on June 14 that Hemme’s attorneys had provided “clear and convincing evidence” of her “actual innocence,” leading to the overturning of her conviction. However, Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey contested her release in court, NBC News reported.

During a hearing on Friday, Judge Ryan Horsman warned that if Hemme was not released by a specific time, he would summon Bailey to court on Tuesday morning and threatened to hold the attorney general’s office in contempt.

No direct evidence against Hemme

There was no direct evidence linking Hemme to the murder of Jeschke. However, investigators later discovered earrings, believed to belong to the victim, in the home of former police officer Michael Holman in 2015.

Courts noted that evidence “directly tied” Holman to the grisly murder of Jeschke. A search of Holman’s home after his death in 2015 uncovered gold horseshoe-shaped earrings that Jeschke’s father had given her, according to The Daily Mail.

Jeschke’s murder in November 1980 was discovered by her mother when she didn’t show up for work. She was found naked inside her apartment in a pool of blood, her limbs bound by a telephone cord, a knife under her head, and a pair of pantyhose around her throat.

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