On New Year’s Day 1999, eight months before Sebold’s memoir was published, Broadwater, then 38, was released from prison after about 16 years behind bars. Now with his conviction overturned, Broadwater will be removed from the sex offender registry, to which he was added following his sentence. His status on the list and his criminal record made it hard for him to make a living.

“A lot of doors have been slammed in my face for jobs,” he told reporters outside the court.

Broadwater told CNN, “I did what I could do and that was just you know—creating work for myself doing landscaping, tree removal, hauling, clean-outs.”

In 1999, after his release from prison, Broadwater started seeing his now-wife, Elizabeth.

“She wanted children. I wouldn’t bring children in the world because of this,” Broadwater told reporters in court. “And now, we’re past the age. We can’t have children.”

He told The Syracuse Post-Standard that Elizabeth believed in him, adding, “I told her I’d never stop fighting this case.”