Daijiworld Media Network - Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Oct 15: After spending 43 years in prison for a murder he did not commit, Indian-origin Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam was ordered to be released earlier this month—but before he could step out, he was taken into custody by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and now faces deportation to India, a country he last saw as a baby.

The 64-year-old, who grew up in Pennsylvania and has lived in the US since he was nine months old, was exonerated on October 2, 2025. However, ICE cited a decades-old deportation order from 1988, based on the same wrongful murder conviction and a separate drug-related offence, to justify his detention.

Vedam’s family expressed deep distress, emphasizing his lack of ties to India. His niece, Zoë Miller-Vedam, told USA Today, “He doesn’t speak Hindi. We tease him that he has more of a Philadelphia accent than anything else, because that’s the only way he’s ever spoken.” Born in India during his parents’ brief visit for a family funeral, Vedam returned to the US as an infant and grew up entirely in Pennsylvania. “Any memories he has of India are in a distant past, and an India that doesn’t exist anymore,” she added.

With his parents and grandparents deceased, Vedam has no close relatives in India. His family warned that deportation would leave him in an unfamiliar country with no support system. “He’s unfamiliar with modern technology, he wouldn’t know how to find housing or a job,” Miller-Vedam said. “In the US, he’d have family and a support system to help him rebuild his life.”

Vedam was convicted in 1983 for the murder of his former classmate and roommate, 19-year-old Tom Kinser, who had gone missing in 1980 in State College, Pennsylvania. Kinser’s body was later found with a gunshot wound to the head. Authorities claimed Vedam was the last person seen with Kinser, though there were no witnesses or physical evidence implicating him. Vedam maintained his innocence throughout, but was denied bail as a “foreigner likely to flee,” and his passport and green card were confiscated.

Sentenced to life imprisonment, Vedam spent decades appealing his conviction until new evidence surfaced in 2021. On October 2, 2025, all charges were dropped, officially confirming his wrongful imprisonment.

Ava Benach, Vedam’s lawyer, noted he was the longest-incarcerated prisoner in Pennsylvania to be exonerated. “Subu has lived in the US since he was a nine-month-old infant when he and his family arrived as lawful permanent residents,” she said. “He forfeited four decades of his life to a prison sentence for a murder he didn’t commit and worked to educate and rehabilitate other inmates during his time behind bars.”

Vedam now faces an uncertain future, with deportation looming despite spending nearly his entire life in the United States.