KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City man who has been jailed for more than 40 years for a triple murder adamantly and repeatedly denied having anything to do with the crime during testimony Monday in an evidentiary hearing that could lead to his freedom.

"I had absolutely nothing to do with these murders. By no means was I anywhere close to that crime scene," said Kevin Strickland, who said he has been working toward his freedom since he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 1979.

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker and other legal and political leaders say Strickland was w...