[Rev.] Thomas P.  Bird is currently under a life sentence imposed on him by Lyon County District Judge Gary Rulon in 1985.  A  jury had found him guilty of First Degree Murder in the death of his wife, Sandra Stringer Bird.  They did this despite there being no conclusive evidence that a murder had been committed, and without a single shred of evidence linking Tom Bird to her death. TOM BIRD RELEASED ON PAROLE ON JUNE 14...CLICK HERE FOR THIS UPDATE

A 1984 Lyon County Jury found Tom Bird guilty of one count of Criminal Solicitation to Commit murder.  They said he plotted with Lorna Anderson, urging Darrel Carter, an Emporia Kansas builder, to find someone to murder Lorna's husband, Martin K. Anderson.  Lorna later named Tom as the shooter. At that trial, Judge Gary Rulon sentenced Tom to 2 1/2 to 7 years in prison. 

During the first year of the solicitation sentence, a Lyon County tried Tom a second time--for the murder of his wife. The jury found him guilty, despite having no evidence tying him to the scene of the crime, and motives based on hearsay and perjury.

Then in 1990 a Geary County (KS) jury found Tom not guilty of murdering Martin Anderson, despite using much of the same evidence as to motive as sealed his fate in 1984 and 1985..

Evidence shows clearly that two Lyon County juries wrongfully convicted Tom Bird.

Both convictions rested on hearsay evidence and perjury but it took until 1990 to counter the erroneous testimony.

The 1985 murder conviction rested on a faulty indictment that made it impossible for Tom to defend himself, in essence, forcing him to prove his innocence.  Our system requires that we are innocent until proven guilty.

Tom Bird asks for a retrial to clear his name and win his freedom.

Caged Bird  is a 736 page true crime story that chronicles Tom Bird's story.  This in-depth account of innocence is  based on more than 10,000 pages of legal documents, interviews, police and investigative reports and more than 1,000 news stories.  We have set up a website for the book at Caged Bird.  Click your back button to return to this page.

In the Shadow of Joseph: Letters from Prison is a 184-page collection of letters written by Tom Bird to Pastor Ken Kothe, with meditations by author Dave Racer, and a Foreword by Gov. Albert Quie.  You can learn more about this book here.

Website Updated February 16, 2002

Visit these pages as well: 

Tom's Current Status  The Caged Bird -  Thomas P. Bird  

Tom's Biography  [Rev.] Tom Bird's background

Contact Tom Bird With your questions and to offer support.

Help to Free Tom Bird.  Help Tom clear his good name.

Caged Bird, the story of this miscarriage of justice is for sale from Alethos Press.  

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