Thomas Clardy Walks Free, Again

Thomas Clardy walked out of Riverbend Maximum Security Institution a free man on Tuesday, September 15. It’s the second time he’s made that walk.

A jury convicted Thomas in 2007 for a 2005 shooting at a Madison auto repair shop that killed one man and injured two others. He spent 17 years behind bars while maintaining his innocence the entire time. In 2023, a federal judge overturned his conviction, and Thomas went home. Then in 2025, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that ruling, and he went back to prison.

This August, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee commuted the sentence, after a long-fought battle for executive clemency. At midday on Tuesday, Thomas walked out of Riverbend for the second time into the arms of the family that never stopped waiting.

To see more in the news, check out:

• Fox 17 Nashville (WZTV) — “I prayed as I walked out today”: Thomas Clardy walks free a second time into family’s arms
• WKRN — Thomas Clardy walks free again after Gov. Lee commutes sentence
• NewsChannel 5 — After nearly 2 decades in prison and a return behind bars, Thomas Clardy is free again
• NewsChannel 5 — Thomas Clardy walks free after Tennessee governor commutes his sentence in decades-long case
• WSMV — TN in Ten: Thomas Clardy set to be released from prison