Other innocent jailbirds - Lioness

One thing has become crystal clear through the latest episodes of Lioness, and that is that Samantha Hugo is indeed innocent. 

All evidence points to the fact that she was framed for crimes that Adrian committed for what seems like years, and was sent to prison while he faked his own death to get away from it all. 

Although our hearts go out to Sam who lost 8 years with her children, we found a few other people who served intense sentences while being innocent. 

Here's a quick look at a few fellow innocent jailbirds over the past few decades. 

Richard Phillips

Can you imagine going to prison when you are only 25 and then have the court realise that you were innocent all along when you are 70? Richard was imprisoned for a fatal shooting in Detroit in 1971 and was sentenced to life without parole. It was only in 2017 that he was exonerated and released. Serving 46 years in prison. He is to this day the longest-serving innocent man in the United States. 

Joyce Ann Brown

Serving 9 years, 5 months and 24 days as an innocent woman, Joyce Ann Brown was wrongfully convicted in 1980 based on somebody with the same name renting a car that was used in the robbery. 

Virginia LeFever

In September 1988 William LeFever died of a drug overdose and his wife Virginia was accused of poisoning him as the couple was in the middle of a divorce. Although Virginia was the one that called the police the night she found him and his empty bottles of antidepressants, she was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. After 20 years the court discovered that the toxicologist lied about his credentials and the evidence used to convict Virginia was thrown out of court. 

Susan King

Susan served 6 of her original 10-year sentence after being convicted of murdering her boyfriend. Even though the court believed that an amputee weighing only 49kg could carry a 90kg body to a river and hoist it over the railing, the truth seemed a lot more unbelievable. 6 years after going to prison the actual murderer came forward to confess, in exchange for leniency for his brother who was facing federal drug charges. 

Like Sam, there have been countless others that went to prison for crimes they did not commit, and like her, they fought to be proved innocent. 

What will you do to prove your innocence if you had to be wrongfully imprisoned? 

Remember to join us every Thursday at 20:30 to see how Sam is fighting to prove that she was framed. 

Join the conversation on social media by using #LionessSA and stay up to date with the latest episodes on Catch Up with DStv or on Showmax.