After spending over four decades incarcerated for a murder her advocates contend she didn't commit, Sandra Hemme, 63, will have her case reviewed in an evidentiary hearing. The Missouri Attorney General's office consented to the hearing following a petition filed by the Innocence Project, who are working to exonerate Hemme. Hemme was convicted in the 1980 slaying of Patricia Jeschke, a library employee in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Hemme's legal team argues that her initial statements to investigators, given while she was a patient at a psychiatric facility, were inconsistent and unreliable. These statements, they claim, are the sole basis for her conviction. Her lawyers describe her accounts as ranging from claiming Jeschke was murdered by a man who was later confirmed to be elsewhere, to attributing her knowledge of the crime to extrasensory perception. Two weeks after Jeschke's body was discovered, Hemme reportedly suggested she might have stabbed the victim, but expressed uncertainty.

The Attorney General's office acknowledged the potential validity of the claims presented by Hemme's attorneys, stating that if the presented facts are accurate, she may be entitled to legal remedy. Hemme's initial guilty plea to capital murder was overturned on appeal. However, she was subsequently convicted in a 1985 jury trial that relied solely on her earlier "confession."

The Innocence Project alleges that evidence implicating a former St. Joseph police officer was withheld during the trial. This officer, who later served time in prison, was investigated for insurance fraud and burglaries. The Innocence Project contends that shortly after Jeschke's death, the officer used her credit card, and her earrings were found in his possession. Additionally, his alibi, claiming he was with another woman at the time of the murder, was reportedly unsubstantiated by his colleagues. A former senior member of the St. Joseph detective division has expressed his belief in Hemme's innocence and pointed to evidence suggesting the officer's involvement in the crime.

The Missouri Attorney General's office, under Andrew Bailey, has a history of contesting wrongful conviction claims. While Bailey has only held office since January, his predecessor, now U.S. Senator Eric Schmidt, actively opposed efforts to exonerate individuals like Kevin Strickland, who was eventually freed in 2021 after 43 years, and Lamar Johnson, released in 2023 after 28 years. An attorney with extensive experience in post-conviction claims noted the rarity of the Attorney General's office agreeing to an evidentiary hearing in innocence cases like Hemme's.