An innocent Missouri man who spent 18 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit has been released.

David Robinson walked away from Jefferson City Correctional Center a free man on Monday after being wrongfully convicted in the 2001 of killing Sheila Box.

"Been a living nightmare. It's been an up-and-down roller coaster," Robinson told "48 Hours" in a jailhouse interview. "That bothered me more than anything, to be wrongfully accused of killing a woman."

Robinson was sentenced to life in parole. However, three years later another man confessed to Box's murder.

Despite the man's confession, Robinson remained jailed. By 2009, both witnesses who'd helped get him convicted had admitted they lied.

Still, Robinson remained in prison.

Not until this past February did a judge rule that evidence clearly shows that Robinson did not kill Sheila Box.

Judge Darrell Missey ruled the conviction should be overturned because the lead detective used "unreliable evidence" to convict Robinson and "ignored or suppressed facts"  which pointed away from him, CBS News reports.

That lead detective has since resigned.

Waiting for Robinson on the other side this week were family members, including his brother, who told reporters they planned to treat Robinson to a barbecue with all his favorite foods.

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