Let me tell you about Michael Morton. He was an ordinary American, living in the suburbs of Austin, Texas. He had a wife and a five-year-old son and worked in an office.
One day in August 1986, Michael came home from work to find police officers in his house. His wife had been murdered—beaten with a baseball bat and covered with a pillow. Just the day before, they had celebrated their wedding anniversary.
That morning, Michael had left for work at 5:30 a.m. He wrote a note to his wife, telling her he loved her but was disappointed they had not been intimate the night before.
The police focused on Michael. They claimed he killed his wife because she refused to have sex. But Michael had never been in trouble before—not even a traffic ticket. Still, he was charged with murder, sent to prison, and lost custody of his son. His son was told that his father had killed his mother.
Michael spent 25 years behind bars. He was offered parole if he admitted guilt, but he refused. He said the only thing he had left was his innocence.
Meanwhile, the police had found a blood-soaked bandana near the crime scene. Michael’s lawyers asked for DNA testing, but the district attorney refused, even when they offered to pay for it themselves. They had to go to court to get a warrant for testing.
When the DNA was finally tested, it showed the blood was from a man—but not Michael. When they ran it through CODIS (the FBI’s DNA database), they discovered it belonged to a recently released criminal.
Michael’s lawyers kept digging. They found that other women in Austin had been killed the same way, after Michael had been sent to prison. That meant the real killer was still out there.
Then they found even more proof:
- Michael’s wife’s credit card was used after her death—when Michael was already in jail.
- A police report was hidden from Michael’s defense team.
- His mother-in-law had talked to his son, asking, “Who hurt your mom?” The boy answered, “A monster.” When she asked if the monster was his dad, he said, “No, he’s not my father.”
The police had kept this statement secret.
Finally, they tested DNA from another Austin murder—and it matched the blood on the bandana.
After 25 years in prison, Michael was freed. At his hearing, the judge apologized for the terrible mistake. The real killer was later charged with two murders.
As for the prosecutor who hid the evidence? He was promoted to judge, but later lost his law license and spent only ten days in jail.
Michael wrote a book about his life called “Getting Life” (2014).
His story also led to a new law in Texas. On May 16, 2013, Governor Rick Perry signed the Michael Morton Law, which requires fair investigations and prevents evidence from being hidden.