Transcript
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Ann Roderick Jones (1:08)
Hey everyone. Today is a special episode. We have a huge breakthrough in the Sandra Hemmy case and we want to tell you all about it. It's June 14, 2024, and Judge Ryan Horstman has overturned Sandra Hemmes conviction. I'm in Nicaragua, staying at a home that's high up in the jungle, and I'm searching for a place on the porch where I can get decent WI fi. I didn't expect to hear the news this quickly. We were estimating mid July, but as soon as the tracking notification from the Missouri court system pops in my inbox, I reach out to Sean o' Brien. He's on Sandy's local council for the Innocence Project, and he tells me in an email that Judge Horstman ruled in our favor. There's an exclamation point at the end of that sentence. He also said, we filed a motion to release her last night. Now we wait for the judge to rule. We immediately reached out to Rick Hartigan upon finding out this news. He was the first to report on police withholding evidence, evidence now known to link former police officer Michael Holman to the murder. Rick received threats at the time for this reporting first.
Rick Hartigan (2:28)
I mean, I know that the first reaction should be, I'm overjoyed by this. But really after that initial thought, it's kind of like I'd like to hear someone in authority say, I'm sorry.
Ann Roderick Jones (2:44)
If you've been following along. You know that this is the moment we've been waiting for throughout the season. But if you're just joining us, here's A quick recap. Sandra or Sandy Hemmy has been serving the past four plus decades in prison for a murder that was likely committed by a St. Joseph police officer. On November 12, 1980, Patricia Jeske's body was found on the floor of her apartment in St. Joseph, Missouri. Sandy had no connection to the victim and at the time was a psychiatric patient at the St. Joseph State Hospital. Sandy was interrogated multiple times by police at the hospital. And despite no physical, forensic or eyewitness evidence linking her to the crime, Sandy spent most of her life behind bars. In the summer of 2023, Sandy was granted a hearing after her attorneys at the Innocence project filed a 147 page petition that included never presented evidence. Fast forward to January 2024 when our team traveled to Chillicothe, Missouri to attend this evidentiary hearing that has ultimately led to today's decision. In his ruling, Ryan Horstman said evidence directly ties a now deceased police officer to the killing of Patricia Jeske. The court found that, quote, the only evidence linking Ms. Hemmy to the crime was that of her own inconsistent disproven statements. Statements that were taken while she was in psychiatric crisis and physical pain. Meanwhile, the evidence implicating Michael Holman was so significant that, quote, it would be difficult to imagine that the state could prove Ms. Hemmy's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt based on the weight of the evidence now available that ties Holman to this victim and the crime and excludes Ms. Hemmy. Unquote. Here's Rick again.