More than £1.1m raised for American man jailed for 43 years for murders he didn’t commit
More than $1.5m (£1.1m) has been raised to help an American man who was freed after spending 43 years in jail for a triple murder he did not commit.
The Midwest Innocence Project set up the online fundraiser as they fought for Kevin Strickland‘s release, noting that he would not get compensation from the state of Missouri, where he was wrongfully convicted.
The 62-year-old is not eligible for wrongful imprisonment payments because the state only provides them to people exonerated through DNA evidence.
Kevin Strickland always maintained he was at home at the time of the murders. Pic: AP
“The state of Missouri has robbed him of his youth, his health, and much of his life’s potential,” the Midwest Innocence Project wrote on the GoFundMe page.
He has no work history because he was imprisoned at the age of 18 and now uses a wheelchair, the appeal added.
“Mr Strickland needs financial support to care for his basic needs upon his release,” Midwest Innocence Project said.
“Mr Strickland has suffered an unimaginable atrocity and no one helped him. Today, he needs your help.”
A judge ordered his release on Tuesday after ruling that evidence used to convict Mr Strickland has since been disproven or recanted.
Mr Strickland has always maintained that he was at home watching television when the three killings happened.
Pictured in 2015, Kevin Strickland has maintained his innocence for more than four decades. Pic: AP
He was convicted on testimony from a witness who identified Mr Strickland as one of four men who shot victims Larry Ingram, 21, John Walker, 20, and Sherrie Black, 22.
The witness recanted her statement before she died and said after the trial she was pressured by police to identify him as one of the perpetrators.
There was no physical evidence that tied Mr Strickland to the scene of the crime and the two other men convicted in the killings also insisted he was not involved – instead naming two other suspects who were never charged.
Strickland faced questioning during his hearing on 8 November. Pic: AP
Mr Strickland found out he was being released when the news scrolled across a television screen as he was watching a soap opera.
Other prisoners began screaming, he said.
Mr Strickland said the criminal justice system “needs to be torn down and redone”, adding that he would like to get involved in efforts to “keep this from happening to someone else”.
“I’m not necessarily angry,” he said. “It’s a lot. I think I’ve created emotions that you all don’t know about just yet.
“Joy, sorrow, fear. I am trying to figure out how to put them together.”
Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump he “will not back down” from Russia’s goals in Ukraine during a phone call today, the Kremlin has said.
The Russian president spoke to his US counterpart for almost an hour, and Mr Trump “again raised the issue of an early end to military action” in Ukraine, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
In response, Mr Putin said “Russia will not back down” from its aims there, which include “the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs,” Mr Ushakov said.
The phrase “root causes” is shorthand for Moscow’s argument that it was compelled to invade Ukraine in order to prevent the country from joining NATO.
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Trump and Putin’s latest call on Ukraine
Ukraine and its European allies say this is a pretext to justify what they call an imperial-style war, but Mr Trump has previously shown sympathy with Russia.
At the same time, Mr Putin told the US president that Russia is ready to continue negotiating, the aide said.
The Russian president said any prospective peace deal must see Ukraine give up its NATO bid and recognise his country’s territorial gains.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seen with Mr Trump in June, is pushing for Ukraine to join NATO. Pic: Reuters
He also briefed Mr Trump on agreements made last month, which saw Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners of war and dead soldiers.
Specific dates for the third round of peace talks in Istanbul were not discussed – nor was the US decision to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s call came after the Pentagon confirmed some weapons due to be sent to Ukraine have been held as it reviews military stockpiles.
The paused shipments include air defence missiles and precision-guided artillery, two people familiar with the situation have said.
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The decision led to Ukraine calling in the acting US envoy to Kyiv on Wednesday to underline the importance of military aid from Washington.
Kyiv also cautioned that the move would weaken Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against intensifying Russian airstrikes and battlefield advances.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s phone call was the sixth they have publicly disclosed since the US president returned to the White House in January.
Donald Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ has been passed by the US congress, sending it to the president to sign into law.
The controversial tax breaks and spending cuts package cleared its final hurdle as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives narrowly approved the bill with a 218-214 vote.
The bill delivers tax breaks Mr Trump promised in his 2024 election campaign, cuts health and food safety programmes, and zeroes out dozens of green energy incentives.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), it will lower tax revenues by $4.5trn over 10 years and add $3.4trn to the US’s $36.2trn debt.
But despite concerns over the 869-page bill’s price tag – and its hit to healthcare programmes – Republicans largely lined up in support, with just two rebelling on the vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is congratulated following the vote. Pic: Reuters
Every Democrat in Congress voted against the bill, blasting it as a giveaway to the wealthy that will leave millions of Americans uninsured.
House Speaker Mike Johnson made the Republicans’ closing argument for the bill, telling Congress: “For everyday Americans, this means real, positive change that they can feel.”
Earlier, the House’s Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries gave a record-breaking eight-hour and 44-minute speech against it.
“The focus of this bill, the justification for all of the cuts that will hurt everyday Americans, is to provide massive tax breaks for billionaires,” he said.
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The bill’s spending cuts largely target Medicaid, the health programme that covers 71 million Americans on low incomes.
It will tighten enrolment standards, institute a work requirement and clamp down on a funding mechanism used by states to boost federal payments.
The changes could leave nearly 12 million people without health insurance, according to the CBO.
On the other side of the ledger, it will stave off tax increases that were due to hit most Americans at the end of the year, when tax cuts from President Trump’s first term were due to expire.
It also sets up new tax breaks for overtime pay, seniors and tipped income.
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The bill narrowly passed the US Senate on Tuesday after vice president JD Vance cast the deciding vote to break a 50-50 tie.
Mr Trump will sign it into law on Friday at 5pm local time (10pm in the UK), the White House said.
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