Americans donate more than a million dollars to a person acquitted of murder after 43 years

Americans raised more than $1 million for a man who spent 43 years behind bars, before a judge overturned his conviction in the murders of three people.

The online fundraiser was launched for Kevin Strickland, who will not receive compensation from the state of Missouri and will need help with basic living expenses.

The state only allows payments to those acquitted through DNA evidence, which was not the case in the 62-year-old Strickland case.

According to Russia Today, a Missouri Court of Appeals judge, James Welch, had ordered Strickland's release on Tuesday, finding that the evidence used to convict him had since been retracted or refuted.

By Friday afternoon, $1.1 million had been raised through a fundraising drive, and donations are still coming in.

Strickland has always maintained that he was at home watching television and had nothing to do with the 1978 murders, when he was 18 years old.

As he left prison, he said he was thankful to the god who took his hand during this ordeal for 43 years.

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