ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis Circuit Court judge tossed out the murder conviction of Christopher Dunn on Monday and ordered his immediate release. Dunn has spent more than 30 years behind bars for a faulty murder conviction.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore said testimony and eyewitness recordings all helped with the final judgement.

“In our view, the judge’s order was very clear ordering his immediate release,” Gore said.

Gore pointed out some of the key points from the judge’s ruling, specifically about the eyewitnesses.

“The sole evidence presented against Mr. Dunn at the original trial was the testimony of the key eyewitnesses, who at that time were 12 and 14,” he said. “I thought (the judge) did a very careful analysis as to why their recantations of that testimony was credible.”

The hold-up now hangs on a notice of appeal from Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office.

“We’re kind of in uncharted territory. As I said, there is no legal basis for them to have filed the appeal in the first place,” Booker Shaw, an attorney and retired judge, said.

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The Dunn family said they’re waiting on the decades-long fight for Chris’ freedom to finally be over.

“We are overjoyed and at the same time we are also afraid to really exhale until Chris actually takes his first free steps and feels the free ground against his feet,” Kira Dunn, Chris’ wife, said.

Gore said they’re not sure how long an appeal process could take or when Dunn will be let go.

“When that happens, I think all of these feelings we’ve been holding on to for so long will finally erupt. Thank you everyone for being here,” Kira said. “We are hopeful that the next time you hear about this case it will be on the news of Chris walking into the world as a free man finally after 34 years.”

Bailey’s office confirmed they are appealing but cannot comment on a pending criminal matter.

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