The Innocence Project
The Innocence Project, which is an organization that ‘exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing,’ began looking into Allen’s case. And in 2003, they were able to prove that the semen found on Bell’s clothing on the day of the murder did not belong to that of George Allen, Jr. They matched those of her boyfriend, whose prints had also been found in her apartment on the day of her death. Finally, on November 2, 2012, Allen’s conviction was overturned and he would be set free. After 30 years in jail, on January 18, 2013, Allen was able to leave the Jefferson City Correctional in Missouri. On the day he left, he shared, “I have spent 30 years in prison as an innocent man, and those have been difficult years for me and my family, but I never gave up hope. I knew that some day the truth would come out… Thank God this nightmare is finally ending.”
