(Newswire.net — April 15, 2019) — Everyone knows the story of the “Hurricane”, who served 19 years in jail for a conviction that was eventually overturned in 1985, and Stephen Avery, who featured in Making of a Murderer after serving two decades for a crime he didn’t commit (only to end up back in jail for another crime some argue he also didn’t commit).
But there are many more people who spent a long time in prison for crimes they didn’t commit, including:
5. Dewey Bozella
Dewey Bozella never had things easy, but he was tireless in his efforts to put things right. He grew up in an abusive home and took to drugs and crime, before using boxing as a means to escape that life. Things seemed to be improving for him, but then he was locked up for killing a 92-year old woman.
He maintained his innocence behind bars, but he realized he was fighting on his own so he began to study law and become a paralegal and criminal defense lawyer capable of fighting his own corner. After 26 years he was eventually released and cleared, but by that time he had lost his youth and had seen a third of his life disappear.
4. Bennie Starks
Bennie Starks was sentenced to a century behind bars in 1986 when he was convicted of beating an elderly woman, with their evidence consisting of a dry cleaning receipt in a coat found in a river near the body.
He had an alibi, he didn’t match the woman’s description, and he claimed to have been mugged, which is why the coat was where it was. But then the victim changed her description, identified Bennie, and he was arrested.
The conviction wasn’t overturned until 2006.
3. Juan Catalan
The subject of The Long Shot Netflix show, Juan Catalan’s story defies belief. He didn’t serve as much time in prison as the other subjects of this article, but he still spent 5 years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit.
He was arrested for the murder of a 16-year old, despite claiming he was at a baseball match. His claims went unheeded, but his team eventually tracked down raw footage from Curb Your Enthusiasm, which happened to be filmed during the match and managed to catch Catalan in the crowd.
2. Nicholas Yarris
Yarris spent 22 years on death row for a crime he was eventually absolved of via DNA testing. This case is made all the more horrifying by claims that Yarris spent large portions of that time in solitary conferment and was also beaten by the prison guards.
He was a drug addict when he was arrested and he spent the first part of his sentence in deep withdrawals after being forced to go cold turkey. He went to hell and back, but at least now he has his freedom.
1. Kennedy Brewer
Brewer was convicted of murdering his girlfriend’s three-year old daughter and was sent to prison in 1995. DNA testing in 2001 suggested that the conviction was wrong, but it still took the courts 7 more years to exonerate him.
Brewer didn’t serve as long behind bars as some of the others on this list, but he had to live through the indignity and shame of being convicted for murdering a three-year old child, as well as the frustration of spending 7 more years behind bars even though DNA evidence cleared him.