John,

I’m an exoneree and member of the Innocence Project Exoneree Advisory Council.

On Sept. 12, 1994, when I was just 17 years old, my life changed forever. I was at home with my two children. I woke up and found my 15-week-old baby in the kitchen. He had been brutally stabbed and was no longer alive. I immediately went to a neighbor and called the police.

Police interrogated me for hours while I was grieving the devastating loss of my son, and they eventually coerced me into falsely claiming that I accidentally killed him. Then during my trial, the prosecution falsely implied that blood recovered from the scene matched my blood type. In 1995, I was convicted of murdering my son and sentenced to life without parole in an Oklahoma prison.

Years later in 2014, DNA testing of crime scene evidence pointed to an unknown male as the real perpetrator — and lawyers also uncovered other evidence pointing to my innocence that was known to the prosecution at the time of trial but never disclosed to my legal team, violating the Supreme Court’s decision in Brady v. Maryland. Exactly 20 years after my son’s murder, I was finally exonerated.

What I went through for two decades taught me so much about things like coerced confessions, DNA evidence, and Brady violations. Now, I spend my time raising awareness about the flaws in our criminal legal system — that’s why it’s very important to me to be a part of the Innocence Project’s Speakers Bureau.

It gives me the chance to share my experience with others in hopes of opening their eyes to wrongful convictions. If hearing my story is something that sounds interesting to you, take a look at the Innocence Project’s Speakers Bureau program and book me to speak at your next event.

Thank you so much for your support,

Michelle Murphy
Exonerated in 2014
Innocence Project