Sandra Hemme sues City of St. Joseph and Police officers
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- A Missouri woman is suing the City of St. Joseph and St. Joseph Police officers after spending 43 years in prison on a wrongful conviction.
Sandra Hemme was exonerated in 2024, after a judge found her to be wrongfully convicted and imprisoned in the murder of Patricia Jeschke.
On Thursday, July 24, almost a year after her release, Hemme filed a civil lawsuit against the City of St. Joseph and the St. Joseph police officers involved in the investigation.
Hemme was a 20-year-old woman around the time of her imprisonment in 1980, following the murders. Hemme was also confined in a psychiatric ward at the St. Joseph State Hospital because of mental illness.
When the murder occurred, Hemme was not in St. Joseph, but the St. Joseph Police Department still interviewed her, due to an incident in the ward where she threatened a nurse with a knife.
The lawsuit claims, Hemme was taken advantage of during the interrogation sessions and was "under constant abuse" and pressure, which led to her eventually admitting to the murder of Jeschke.
News-Press NOW reached out to the city, who was unable to comment on the matter, due to the pending litigation and also reached out to one of Hemme's attorneys, who did not respond.
News-Press NOW will provide more details on the case, as it develops.
