A man who was wrongfully imprisoned for almost a decade after being convicted of murder has been released and awarded a significant $38 million in damages.
Ryan Ferguson, at the age of 19, was wrongfully convicted in December 2005 for murder.
Despite consistently proclaiming his innocence, he spent nearly 10 years in a Missouri state prison before his conviction was overturned.
The case involved Kent Heitholt, a Columbia Daily Tribune sports editor, who was found beaten and strangled on November 1, 2001, in the parking lot of the newspaper’s building.
The murder case went cold for two years until Charles Erickson, who had been out partying with Ferguson on the night of the murder, came forward. He expressed concerns that his lack of memory about that night might mean he was somehow involved in the crime.
Erickson eventually confessed to the murder despite having no memory of it and implicated Ferguson as well.
Accepting a plea deal of 25 years, Erickson agreed to testify against Ferguson, who was convicted in the fall of 2025 on the basis of Erickson’s testimony and that of an employee of the building. Ferguson was found guilty of robbery and second-degree murder, receiving a 40-year prison sentence.
Ferguson sought to overturn his conviction 11 times, but each appeal was dismissed until a new lawyer took his case pro bono in 2009.
Subsequent testimonies revealed that police and a prosecuting attorney had allegedly coerced witnesses to lie, according to a lawsuit filed by Ferguson’s lawyer, as reported by Columbia Missourian.
Erickson later recanted, stating: “I made up what I said about Ryan being on top of the victim. I lied about him strangling the victim. That was a lie. Ryan never touched the victim.”
On November 5, 2013, a judge determined that Ferguson had not received a fair trial, leading to the overturning of his conviction.
Erickson was eventually released on parole in January 2023.
A month after gaining his freedom, Ferguson shared with CBS News: “It’s an incredible feeling, I can go where I want, and do what I want, that’s just something I haven’t experienced in my whole adult life, pretty much. I get out and it’s such a different world and there is so much more going on.”
In 2017, Ferguson decided to sue the City of Columbia, police, and prosecutors, which resulted in him being awarded over $11 million in a settlement.
However, when Traveler’s Insurance failed to pay him, a jury ordered the company on Friday (November 1) to pay Ferguson $2.9 million along with $35 million in punitive damages, totaling nearly $38 million.
Kathleen Zellner commented on Ferguson’s release and the financial award to ABC17 News: “This verdict will have a widespread effect on wrongful conviction cases across the country when the insurer refuses to participate in the settlement negotiations and refuses to pay their share of the verdict immediately. Justice was finally served for Ryan Ferguson.
“The jury heard us loud and clear.”
The officers named in the lawsuit, accused of manipulating evidence to secure a conviction, have denied any wrongdoing, according to ABC17.