A man spent 20 years in prison – until his twin confessed to the crime (Representational image)
A man spent 20 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. This statement will send a chill down anyone’s spine, but this has been the truth of Kevin Duggar for nearly two decades. Mr. Duggar, who hails from Chicago, was convicted in 2005 and sentenced to 54 years in prison for murder. But last week, he walked out of the Cook County Jail following a revelation by his twin brother, Carl Smith. Mr Duggar’s release resulted from a letter sent by Mr Smith acknowledging the gang-related shooting that had put his brother behind bars for 20 years.
If it hadn’t been for Mr. Smith’s confession, Mr. Duggar would have been well off into his 70s.
According to GuardianBrothers had always been inseparable – so much so that even relatives, friends and teachers could not always tell them apart. However, the two had different surnames as Mr Smith took his mother’s maiden name. As men in their 20s, the two turned to selling drugs in Chicago. Here too, they were referred to as a single entity: “twins.”
This was followed by gang-related violence. A gunman opened fire on three people in the Uptown area of Chicago, killing one person and injuring another. Police arrested Mr. Duggar, who maintained his innocence and refused a plea deal, to a reduced prison term of 11 years. At that time, Mr. Duggar also asked his twin if he had a hand in the murder. Mr. Smith denied everything, and his brother believed him.
Mr. Smith, who per sky News A separate, already serving a 99-year sentence for armed robbery that resulted in the death of a six-year-old boy, confessed to the crime in 2013. In the letter – which came nearly a decade too late – Mr Smith said he had to get it off his chest before he could kill her, and even apologized to Duggar.
He wrote, “First of all, I want to say that I am sorry for all these years you have missed your daughter’s life and also for the pain you have gone through over the past decade.” “Look Kevin, please don’t tell Mom or Dad. I’m gonna tell them.”
According to Chicago TribuneIn 2014, he signed an oath of office. However, in 2018 a judge ruled that Mr Smith’s confessions were not credible and denied a new trial to his brother, The Chicago Tribune reported. The court cited Mr Smith’s 99-year prison sentence as a reason, believing that Mr Smith had “nothing to lose”, now claiming that he was the shooter and thus his He was saving his brother.
However, in April 2021, the Court of Appeal allowed Mr Duggar to try a new trial, this time before a different judge. On 25 January, he was bonded and is currently in a residential transitional facility. The Cook County state attorney’s office has not disclosed whether they intend to drop the case.
According to Mr Duggar’s lawyer, Ronald Seifer, he was “extremely overwhelmed” when he was able to break out of prison and embrace his family.
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