Long before he had a graying beard, Lamar Johnson wrote to the St. Louis judge who oversaw his 1995 trial, saying he had received letters from another man admitting guilt to the murder for which he had just been convicted.
“Mr. Shaw I did not kill Markus Boyd,” Johnson wrote nearly three decades ago, “and I hope someday justice will prevail.”
Following years of legal battles, that day came Tuesday, when Circuit Judge David Mason announced he was granting the St. Louis circuit attorney’s motion to vacate Johnson’s conviction. Prosecutors had determined Johnson, who spent 28 years in prison, had nothing to do with Boyd’s killing.
