Jason Baldwin still remembers details from the day he left prison after serving an 18-year sentence for a crime he says he didn't commit.
Baldwin, who was freed in August 2011 after being convicted of murdering three young boys, told CTV's Canada AM that as he walked down the prison hallways to leave, inmates and staff clapped and cried "tears of joy" for him.
"They knew I was innocent. They knew I deserved to be home," said Baldwin, a spokesperson for the wrongfully committed and one of the members of the infamous "West Memphis Three."
Before he left he told a staff member to use his remaining money to buy ice cream cones for the friends that he was leaving behind.
"As I was going down the hallway, people were giving me hugs, and I was like 'Go down to the commissary and get an ice cream,'" he said. "It was the most heart-warming, emotional experience I've ever felt."
Now he spends time travelling and sharing his incredible story. He will be a keynote speaker at a conference for The Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted in Toronto on Saturday as the organization marks its 20th anniversary this weekend.
Baldwin, along with Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelley make up the "West Memphis Three."
The trio were convicted as teenagers in 1994 for the murders of three eight-year-olds boys, Steve Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore. The bodies of Branch, Byers and Moore were found mutilated and hogtied in West Memphis, Ark., in May 1993.
In November 2010, after support for Baldwin, Echols and Misskelley gathered steam, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that there was enough evidence to call a hearing to determine whether the three could get a new trial.
But on Aug. 19, 2011, all three made a rare "Alford plea" deal with the prosecutors that allowed them to go free after 18 years behind bars. The plea deal saw the three pleading "no contest" to the charges, but still maintaining their innocence.
Many of their supporters say the convictions were largely based on the way they looked, dressed and the music they listened to, rather than any hard evidence. It was also based off of Echols' religious beliefs, which included an interest in Catholicism and Wicca, Baldwin said.
"But never did we kill anyone or hurt anyone," he said.
Baldwin said that when he first entered prison in 1994, inmates believed he was guilty of the crimes and repeatedly beat him, resulting in major injuries including a broken collar bone and a fractured skull.
But as time wore on and Baldwin began to make a life for himself in prison – including volunteering as a counsellor and working in the prison library – that began to slowly change.
"I was in there. I didn't belong there … I didn't want to be there, but that's where I was. So I made a life there, a life that I hoped helped people, not just the inmates, but the staff as well," he said.
"By the end of it, by the time I was released those curses and beatings turned into hugs and prayers… they were happy I was going home."
Now, Baldwin said the investigation into who killed the three young boys should be re-opened.
"They should open the case back up and use the full powers of the state to pursue whoever did this, no matter how long it takes (and) no matter where it leads," he said.
He maintains that despite spending nearly half his life behind bars, his story is ultimately one of hope.
"I'm sharing my story and sharing hope. Governments and things like that, they make mistakes, but the beauty of it is that there are processes for those mistakes to be corrected.
"There's still hope – this is not over. This is not a mistake that can't be fixed… it's not hopeless. We can move forward."
