In our last episode of the series, we are finally able to go on record with Sandy’s attorney with the Innocence Project, Jane Pucher. We also speak with Gilbert King, the writer and host of the Bone Valley podcast about some of the similarities between these two cases. And, most importantly, we dig into Sandy’s wrongful imprisonment, who fought to keep her beyond bars for so long, and what she’s doing now. Do you have information about The Sandra Hemme Story? Please email us at [email protected]. Ozarks True Crime: The Sandra Hemme Story, is an editaudio Original production. Connect with us:Instagram: anniemarie_ / editaud.io Twitter: @editaud_io / @AnnieMarie_See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 1: What is the background of Sandra Hemme's case?
We had a proceeding where the Attorney General's office was ordered to make sure that Ms. Hemi was released by that evening. And she was met by a number of members of her family, one of her sisters, some nieces and cousins, and her granddaughter. It's a big, beautiful, supportive family who surrounded her. And At the time, her father, who has since passed, was in the hospital.
And so the very first thing they did was to get Sandy to go and be able to see her dad at his bedside. And we were very grateful that that was able to happen, because in the midst of this litigation and the efforts to prevent Sandy from being released, as she should have been, there was this really ominous question of whether she was going to get out in time to say goodbye to her father.
Thank you.
If you've been listening to our podcast, you know that we've been reporting on this case for more than a year. And if you're new here, start at the beginning with episode one to better understand where we're at now. In the last episode of the Sandra Hemme story, we broke the news that Sandy's murder conviction was overturned, making her the longest known wrongfully incarcerated woman in U.S.
history. The news made headlines everywhere, from the local Kansas City news stations to the BBC to the New York Times.
A Missouri judge ordered Sandra Hemme's release after her murder conviction was overturned last month.
When we heard about Sandy's release from the Chillicothe Correctional Center, we were thrilled to finally be able to speak on record with Sandy's legal team. My producer Allie and I reached out to Sandy's lawyer from the Innocence Project, Jane Pucher.
Do you remember where you were when Sandy's habeas petition was granted? No.
Well, so when relief was granted back in June, I was actually getting on a plane with my family. So I remember that. That was an exciting time to hear that and wonderful news to hear. You know, there have been a lot of big moments in this case, but that was definitely memorable.
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Chapter 2: What led to Sandy's release from prison?
Bailey fought on the platform of showing no weakness on crime, even if it meant keeping innocent people imprisoned. In August of 2024, he won the primary and currently serves as the Missouri Attorney General. What ensued after was a month-long fight over whether she should be freed while the state appeals court reviewed the case.
A circuit judge, an appellate court, and the Missouri Supreme Court all agreed Sandy should be set free. Bailey repeatedly appealed, using a decades-old prison assault charge to try to keep her behind bars. At one point, Judge Horstman scolded Bailey's office for calling the warden and telling prison officials not to release Hemi after he ordered her to be freed.
Horseman said, I would suggest you never do that, adding, to call someone and tell them to disregard a court order is wrong. Bailey asked the appellate court to review that decision, arguing that Judge Horseman had exceeded his authority.
That judge ordered her release, but Missouri AG Andrew Bailey fought it in court. Today, the judge said Hemi must be released by 6 o'clock tonight or Bailey will be held in contempt.
So finally, on July 19th, 2024, Sandy gets out of prison. After serving 43 years behind bars, she is able to be with her family, to hug them, and to say goodbye to her father, who died just 10 days after her release. But this doesn't mean that Sandy is ruled completely innocent.
While she was released from prison, the decision to overturn her conviction was being questioned by, you guessed it, Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who argued that she should remain in prison. I think about this and what it must feel like after so many years to walk out of the prison doors like Sandy did, to embrace her family and get into their car and drive away.
But also that you are still not free and there's a chance you could soon go back. Sandy's case wasn't the only one. It appears that Andrew Bailey had been intervening in a number of other exonerations. Take Christopher Dunn, for example. In 2024, all around this same time, a Missouri judge had exonerated Mr. Dunn and ordered his release from prison.
Dressed in a jacket and a tie, Mr. Dunn was signing the last of his paperwork when he overheard the warden taking a call, saying, The Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey had intervened to keep Mr. Dunn behind bars. He was ordered to change back into his prison uniform and return to his cell, leaving his St. Louis prosecutor scrambling to free him.
The Missouri Supreme Court had halted his release while it ruled on the appeal. A week later, the court lifted the emergency stay, and St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore dismissed his criminal charges. Dunn changed back into his suit and tie and was finally released from prison.
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Chapter 3: What challenges did Sandy face after her release?
Leo's release did not go as planned. His initial walkout time was set for 9 a.m., but the prison caught wind of the media presence and at the last minute changed his release time to 6 a.m. They also took Leo straight to the halfway house where he would be moving into instead of allowing him to go to a reception that was planned in his honor.
And so, you know, Leo's wife, Chrissy, had planned this banquet for all the guests. Some of them were flying across the country. She planned a luncheon and all of that had to be scrapped. We all wanted that, you know, moment where Leo walks out of the gates to see that.
But in ways it was almost more poignant and more beautiful because it happened, you know, still under the state's mandate of this is how it's going to happen.
We're seeing a pattern here in the U.S., a pattern that was brought up repeatedly in different interviews we conducted over the course of this season.
And the current attorney general, Andrew Bailey, said they see it as their duty to blindly try to uphold every conviction no matter what.
The Missouri Attorney General's Office, under Democrats and Republicans, have for decades fought innocence cases, and that has been widely criticized. Defense attorneys and post-conviction lawyers say a prosecutor's job is to do justice, to seek justice, not just to uphold convictions.
They think the tougher on crime you are, the better it is for your political career. I don't think that's necessarily true anymore, but That's the way that they've always perceived it. So giving someone a break or conceding that someone's innocent just doesn't, is not in their DNA.
Sandy's release, or lack thereof, was in a nutshell, a shit show. But it didn't have to be this way. And frankly, it shouldn't be this way. Sandy shouldn't have ever been in prison in the first place. And that's why we chose to cover this case.
Despite there being no evidence that she had committed this crime, and despite there being evidence that pointed to a police officer, Sandy spent 43 years in prison. She should have had her mental health properly cared for. Sandy should have never been approached by the police for Patricia's murder.
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Chapter 4: Who is Andrew Bailey and what role did he play?
After more than four decades in prison, Sandy is the longest known wrongfully incarcerated woman in American history. It could be easy to see this as a story of institutions who failed to protect Sandy. The doctors who let police interrogate her while in medical crisis without legal representation. The lawyers who failed to do their due diligence to protect her at trial.
The police who failed to bring the evidence against Michael Holman to light. The Attorney General's office, who fought to keep her in prison even after her conviction was overturned. But in creating this podcast, we've also seen a lot of people who have stepped up for Sandy over all these years. There have been friends and family of Sandy's.
There have been journalists who continue to investigate the missing evidence in her case and countless others who in 40 plus years never stopped fighting for her release.
While nothing can give Sandy back the four decades of her life that were taken from her, we can have hope that bringing cases like this into the light can work to show the failures of the systems behind incarceration, fueling us to make them better and more human.
As I close my laptop and take off my headphones, I will continue to think of Sandy, of her reading the Bible, doing her word puzzles, and standing tall in the grass with that big smile spread across her face. So The Sandra Hemme Story is part of the Edit Audio original series, Ozark's True Crime. It is written and hosted by me, Anne Roderick-Jones.
This episode was produced by Ali Sirwa and Kathleen Speckert and was edited, mixed, and mastered by Ali Sirwa. Our executive producer is Steph Colburn. Thank you immensely to the entire Edit Audio team and to Patrick Rendell for the theme music. Thank you so much to Gilbert King and Jane Poocher. If you want to get in touch with us, you can email us at hello at editaud.io.
That's H-E-L-L-O at E-D-I-T-A-U-D dot I-O.
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