A woman may be freed after 43 years for a grisly murder. Was a police officer the real killer?

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH
Associated Press

A Missouri woman has spent 43 years in prison for a grisly 1980 murder that her lawyers say was actually committed by a police officer with ties to the murder scene. Now, Sandra Hemme is waiting to learn if she’ll regain her freedom. A judge overturned her conviction last week. He ruled Hemme was in a “malleable mental state” when investigators questioned her in a psychiatric hospital under heavy medication. He also found prosecutors withheld evidence about the discredited officer, who died in 2015. Hemme’s legal team at the Innocence Project say this is the longest time a woman has been incarcerated for a wrongful conviction. The family is ecstatic. Her sister, Joyce Ann Kays, said Monday that, “We just can’t wait to get her home.”