A 61-year-old man, Kenneth Windley, has been exonerated and released after spending nearly two decades behind bars for a robbery he did not commit.
Windley regained his freedom on Monday after prosecutors in Brooklyn acknowledged that fresh evidence proved his innocence, bringing an end to a case that dates back to 2005.
“It cost me 20 years, but they said they corrected it now. So that’s all that matters,” Windley said shortly after walking out of court, expressing relief rather than bitterness.
The case was revisited after new evidence emerged, including confessions from two men already serving prison sentences for similar robberies.
Their admissions supported Windley’s long-standing insistence that he had no involvement in the crime.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez described the case as a stark reminder of how justice can go wrong when evidence is not thoroughly scrutinised.
Investigators revealed that Windley had been arrested after unknowingly using a stolen money order to purchase a stove for his mother.
The money order had been taken during a violent robbery involving a 70-year-old victim who was attacked and robbed in his apartment building.
Although Windley consistently maintained that he had simply bought the money order from acquaintances who claimed it was legitimate, he was identified in a lineup weeks after the incident and later convicted in 2007.
Due to prior convictions, he was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.
Over the years, efforts by his legal team and independent investigators helped trace the real perpetrators, who eventually confessed to the crime in sworn statements.
Prosecutors admitted that had this information been available during the trial, it would likely have created reasonable doubt.
Despite the breakthrough, no new charges will be filed, as the legal window for prosecution has since expired and the original victim has passed away.
Now free, Windley says he is focused on rebuilding his life.
“I’m just going to move on from there,” he said, choosing to leave the past behind after nearly 20 years lost to a wrongful conviction.
