A man who had served almost 20 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of murder has been released after his twin brother confessed to the crime.
Kevin Dugar, 44, finally walked free from Cook County Jail in Chicago, USA, this week after spending nearly half his life behind bars.
He had been convicted for a gang-related murder in 2003, but his twin brother, Karl Smith, confessed to the killing a decade later.
A judge denied Dugar a retrial and release in 2018 after he ruled Smith's confession was 'unreliable.
Smith was himself serving a 99 year prison sentence for a home invasion that left a six-year-old with a gunshot wound to the head.
But Dugar’s conviction was later reversed by the Court of Appeals, which found it likely a jury hearing all the evidence would reach a different conclusion.
And this week he was released from the jail, where he was met by his emotional family.
Dugar was jailed for 54 years after being found guilty of the killing of Antwan Taylor, a member of the Blackstones street gang.
He had been a member of a rival gang, the Vice Lords, but was said to have been desperate to leave that life behind.
Smith penned a letter to his brother in 2013 which read: “I have to get it off my chest before it kills me. So I’ll just come clean and pray you can forgive me.
“First off, I’d like to say I’m sorry for all these years you’ve missed out of your daughter’s life and also for all the pain you’ve endured over the last decade or so.
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“You know the case you were found guilty on and you swore you were being set up on? I know you was telling the truth … I’m the reason your life got fucked up.”
Dugar’s lawyer Ron Safer said he hopes Dugar’s case will not be retried.
He told reporters: “This case is in a very different situation than it was 20 years ago. Everybody knows much more about it.”
Dugar will stay at a residential transitional facility for 90 days.
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