After 13 years, Vybz Kartel and three of his co-defendants were released from Jamaican prison on Wednesday. Back in 2014, the artist was sentenced to life in prison for the 2011 murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams, whose body has never been found.
The trial was the longest in the island’s history, lasting 65 days. Toward the end of the the proceedings, a juror was suspected of offering bribes to the other jurors, but instead of stopping the trial and launching an investigation, the judge allowed it to continue. Vybz and his co-defendants proclaimed their innocence and fought for years to get the ruling overturned.
In March, a London appeals court threw out their murder convictions, citing that allowing the juror accused of bribery to continue serving led to a “miscarriage of justice.” They then awaited for Jamaican courts to decide whether a new trial would take place.
The Jamaican Court of Appeal decided a retrial wasn’t worth the effort and set the four men free. Vybz’s health was also a factor. He suffers from Graves’ Disease and has a heart condition. He wore a bandana around his neck and one as a babushka on his head because his neck is visibly swollen.
