He was sent to prison for murder. Then his identical twin confessed

The Guardian, January 28, 2022: He was sent to prison for murder. Then his identical twin confessed

“Kevin Dugar got a letter from his brother.

“It was fall 2013, and Kevin hadn’t seen his identical twin Karl in years – they were both serving time in different Illinois prisons. A murder conviction all but guaranteed Kevin, 36, would remain incarcerated well into his 70s.

“As kids, the twins had been inseparable. They would dress in matching outfits, making it difficult even for family to tell them apart. They would sometimes switch places to fool their teachers and friends. And in their 20s, while selling drugs on the streets of Chicago, they would both be known by a single nickname: ‘Twin.’ They had a special brotherly bond, an unspoken promise to always have each other’s back.

“By the time Kevin received the letter, he had been languishing in decrepit conditions for years. When it rained, water would drip from the ceiling. In the summer, heat got so unbearable that Kevin would revel in the air that flowed through the crack at the bottom of his cell door. He described prison like a dog pound, except for one difference: people care more about dog pounds.”

Additional reading:

The Innocence Project: Eyewitness Identification Reform

Daedalus, Fall 2018: The Intractability of Inaccurate Eyewitness Identification