Legal team argues for Missouri woman's innocence in 1980 murder case

A legal team representing a Missouri woman, who has spent over 40 years imprisoned for a crime she claims she did not commit, has presented new arguments. They have suggested that a police officer, who was under investigation for other offenses and later incarcerated, may be responsible for the 1980 murder she was convicted of. The attorneys argue that the evidence linking the woman to the crime is unreliable and based on contradictory statements she made to detectives while being treated at a psychiatric hospital. The hearing to present the evidence of her innocence was recently granted, with a decision expected in the near future. If the woman is exonerated, it would mark the longest known wrongful conviction of a woman in the history of the United States. The legal team also presented evidence pointing to a former police officer, who has since passed away, as a potential suspect in the case. The retired detective who conducted the interviews with the woman at the hospital testified that her statements seemed incoherent, and her legal team emphasized that the evidence instead points to the deceased police officer. They highlighted the officer's criminal history and the possession of items belonging to the victim, casting doubt on the woman's conviction.