Fred Steese, who was wrongly convicted of murder in 1995, passed away in August 2026 at the age of 62 from cancer. He was released from prison in 2012 after a judge declared him factually innocent. However, prosecutors offered him an Alford plea, a legal strategy where a defendant can claim innocence while pleading guilty to avoid a retrial. Steese accepted the deal and spent 13 years free before his death. In 1995, Steese was convicted of murdering Gerard Soules, a former trapeze artist. At the time of the crime, evidence placed Steese hundreds of miles away, but he was still found guilty. He spent 21 years in prison before being exonerated. After his release, he faced significant challenges in finding stable housing and employment due to his criminal record. In late 2017, with the help of a pro bono lawyer, Steese received a full and unconditional pardon from the state of Nevada, which cleared his record after 22 years of incarceration. The state also compensated him with $1.4 million for his wrongful conviction. Steese used the money to buy a pickup truck, a Mustang, and a big rig, fulfilling his dream of becoming a long-haul truck driver. However, he struggled to keep the money for long, facing challenges with drug use and being scammed out of $15,000. Steese was known for his cheerful and resourceful nature. His sister, Lynn Myers, described him as someone who would give “the shirt off his back, even if he didn’t have another one.” After being exonerated, Steese and Myers reunited, and his ashes will be placed in a handmade wooden box at Myers’ home in California. Ryan Norwood, the federal public defender who proved Steese’s innocence, noted that Steese was able to live his dream of becoming a truck driver and to live his life on his own terms, for better or worse. Steese was hospitalized in June 2026 for a hernia operation, but doctors discovered stage 4 cancer on his liver and pancreas. He was placed in hospice and passed away on August 8.