Malcolm X killer freed after 44 years - CNN.com

Malcolm X killer freed after 44 years

By Wayne Drash, CNN

April 27, 2010 1:56 p.m. EDT

Thomas Hagan was captured shortly after the assassination of Malcolm X on Feburary 21, 1965.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Thomas Hagan walks out of Lincoln Correctional Facility at 11 a.m.
• Hagan set free a day earlier than expected; he's the only confessed killer of Malcolm X
• Hagan, 69, has been in a work-release program the past two decades
• Hagan told parole board he killed Malcolm X over his split with Nation of Islam

(CNN) -- Thomas Hagan, the only man who admitted his role in the 1965 assassination of iconic black leader Malcolm X, was paroled Tuesday.

Hagan was freed a day earlier than planned because his paperwork was processed more quickly than anticipated, according to the New York State Department of Correctional Services.

Hagan, 69, walked out of the minimum-security Lincoln Correctional Facility at 11 a.m. The facility is located at the intersection of West 110th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard.

Hagan had been in a full-time work-release program since March 1992 that allowed him to live at home with his family in Brooklyn five days a week while reporting to the prison just two days.

Last month, Hagan pleaded his case for freedom: To return to his family, to become a substance abuse counselor and to make his mark on what time he has left in this world.