The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. June 17, 2024 Missouri Woman Freed After 43 Years Behind Bars for a Crime She Did Not Commit ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A judge in Missouri has overturned the conviction of a woman who has spent 43 years in prison for a murder she did not commit. Sixty-three-year-old Sandra Hemme is believed to have been jailed longer than any other woman who was wrongfully convicted in the United States. She was convicted of killing a librarian in 1980 solely based on self-incriminating statements she made to police at a time when she was a patient at a psychiatric hospital where she was being treated for auditory hallucinations and drug use. Evidence has since emerged showing the actual murderer was a police officer who has since died. .