California man imprisoned 38 years for murder released after DNA evidence is tested

A California man’s life sentence for murder and attempted murder has been vacated after DNA evidence proved he did not commit the crime. The man was released from prison Friday.

Maurice Hastings, 69, was convicted in 1988 for the 1983 murder of Roberta Wydermyer, and sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. Mr. Hastings maintained his innocence the entire time.

Mr. Hastings had also been convicted of the attempted murders of Wydermyer’s husband Billy Ray and friend George Pinson, according to KCBS-TV, a Los Angeles CBS affiliate. 

Mr. Hastings initially sought a DNA test of evidence taken from the crime scene in 2000, but the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office denied his request. 

A second testing request made last year was granted, and the evidence cleared Mr. Hastings’ name. A new suspect was implicated by the DNA test.

Mr. Hastings’ conviction and sentence were vacated at the request of prosecutors at an Oct. 20 hearing.

“I prayed for many years that this day would come. I am not pointing fingers; I am not standing up here a bitter man, but I just want to enjoy my life now while I have it,” Mr. Hastings said at a Friday news conference, according to the Associated Press.

Current Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement that “What has happened to Mr. Hastings is a terrible injustice … When we learn of new evidence which causes us to lose confidence in a conviction, it is our obligation to act swiftly.”

The new, unnamed suspect died in prison in 2020. He was serving a sentence for the armed kidnapping and rape of a female victim, who was placed in a trunk.

The deceased suspect’s involvement in the older case is now being investigated. 

Wydermyer was found in the trunk of her car in Inglewood, California with a single gunshot wound to the back of the head, along with the semen taken from an oral swab that would go on to be used as DNA evidence.

When her husband and friend went looking for her after she did not return home, they came under gunfire from the now-unidentified perpetrator of her murder.