By . Lydia Warren . PUBLISHED: . 09:24 EST, 4 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 09:31 EST, 4 December 2013 . A man who spent 25 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted for the murder of his wife has revealed how he has reconnected with the son who was too embarrassed to visit him behind bars. Michael Morton, a former grocery store worker, walked free from Williamson County courthouse in Taylor, Texas, in October 2011 after new DNA evidence in the case exonerated him. Now in a new documentary for CNN, Morton has spoken of his pain at seeing his son, who was just three when he was jailed, drift further away from him - and how they are closer than ever today. Scroll down for video . Freed: Michael Morton spent 25 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of killing his wife in 1986 . In August 1986, Morton's wife, Christine, was bludgeoned to death by a blunt object at . their Williamson County, Texas home while he was . at work - but still, suspicion fell on him. He said that an intruder must have been responsible, but prosecutors accused of him of killing her after she refused to have sex with him on his birthday. He was convicted based on circumstantial evidence and sentenced to life in prison. Eric, who was just three, was sent to live with his aunt and visited his father twice a year in prison. 'It was always bitter sweet,' Morton told CNN's documentary, An Unreal Dream, which airs on Thursday. 'I would love seeing him, I was fascinated with his every move. 'But he was becoming more distant. He was becoming less mine.' Before tragedy: Morton is pictured with his wife Christine and their son Eric, who was three when she died . Confused: His son Eric, pictured today, said that he was embarrassed to visit his father in prison as a teen . As Eric grew up, his father felt more of a stranger to him, he told CNN. 'He barely existed in . my life,' Eric said. 'I didn't have memories of him outside of the visits to . prison... I think it was embarrassing for me to think that I had to go to jail to see my dad.' Eric added to Katie Couric in an . interview last year: 'When I was a teenager, I just wanted to . get on with my life. It just seemed strange. I didn't feel like I needed . to go. 'When I was 17 or . 18 I decided to research... and I came to the idea that he must've been . crazy. I thought that if he was innocent, he never would've been guilty . and never would've gone to jail.' Eventually, Eric said that he didn't want to see his father any more. Michael said it was 'numb, painful' - but that he could do nothing but ask his sister-in-law to take good care of his son. Together: The father and son, pictured on Katie Couric's show last year, say they are now close . Eric even changed his surname to Olson - the name of the family who raised him. But then the Innocence Project, a New York-based group working to help people wrongfully convicted, picked up Morton's case. Using techniques that . weren't available during his 1987 trial, authorities detected Christine . Morton's DNA on a bloody bandana discovered near the Morton home soon . after her death. Along with her DNA was the blood of a convicted felon, Mark Norwood, who went on to kill another woman, Debra Baker, in similar circumstances less that two years later. As well as the new evidence, the prosecutor in Morton's case, Ken Anderson, was accused of withholding crucial evidence. Accused: Prosecutors said Morton, seen in his mug shot, killed his wife after she refused to have sex with him . In addition to the bandana, he failed . to share that neighbors had described a man parking a green van behind . the house, or that Eric had seen the attack and said his father had not . been home. 'There was no scientific evidence, there . was no eyewitness, there was no murder weapon, there was no believable . motive,' Morton told CNN of his part in the killing. 'Innocent people think that if you just . tell the truth then you've got nothing to fear from the police. If you just stick to it that the system will work, it'll all . come to light, everything will be fine... 'I didn't see how any rational, thinking . person would say that's enough for a guilty verdict.' The new DNA evidence showed that he had indeed been wrongfully convicted, and last month, Ken Anderson pleaded no contest to criminal contempt for deliberately withholding exculpatory evidence. He stepped down from his position as a judge and agreed to serve 10 days in jail, although he served five due to good behavior laws - far, far less time than Morton was forced to endure. A free man: Morton, right, breathes in the fresh air after leaving the Williamson County courthouse in Taylor, Texas with his attorney on October 4, 2011. New DNA evidence exonerated him . Relief: He is pictured embracing his parents, Bill and Pat Morton, after gaining his freedom in 2011 . On October 4, Morton was released from . prison. Photographs taken on the moment show him holding his face to . the sun, breathing in the moment. Mark Norwood was later convicted after his DNA was found on a bloody bandana near the scene . 'I thank God it wasn't a capital case,' he said as he left. 'Colors seem real bright to me now. Women are real good looking.' Then he was reunited with his son - who he had last seen more than a decade before. 'He looked old,' Eric told Katie Couric. 'It was extremely awkward. I had no idea what to say.' But the pair worked on their relationship and Eric went on to have a daughter, whom he named Christine after his mother. 'I've never seen a more perfect child,' Michael added. 'I don't think Eric ever got me until he had her.' 'Life has come full circle,' Eric said. 'I do love him.' Morton now works on programs helping other innocent people behind bars and is religious, saying that his faith in God helped him through his ordeal and helps him to cope with what he lost. Earlier this year, Texas Governor Rick Perry signed the Michael Morton Act, which states prosecutors must turn evidence over to the defense upon the defendant's request, without needing a court order. 'Other people often feel far more anger than I do,' Morton told CNN. 'Vindication is very, very good, but it's something I knew all along.... It's really nothing new for me.'
Michael Morton was found guilty of killing his wife Christine at their Texas home in 1986 - even though he had been at work .
He was sentenced to life and saw his son Eric, then 3, twice a year .
As a teenager, Eric decided he did not want to visit his father anymore .
In 2011, Morton was exonerated after evidence which had been held back by prosecutors contained DNA linking another man to the murder .
Morton and his son reunited after 10 years and are now close .
By . Lydia Warren . PUBLISHED: . 09:24 EST, 4 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 09:31 EST, 4 December 2013 . A man who spent 25 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted for the murder of his wife has revealed how he has reconnected with the son who was too embarrassed to visit him behind bars. Michael Morton, a former grocery store worker, walked free from Williamson County courthouse in Taylor, Texas, in October 2011 after new DNA evidence in the case exonerated him. Now in a new documentary for CNN, Morton has spoken of his pain at seeing his son, who was just three when he was jailed, drift further away from him - and how they are closer than ever today. Scroll down for video . Freed: Michael Morton spent 25 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of killing his wife in 1986 . In August 1986, Morton's wife, Christine, was bludgeoned to death by a blunt object at . their Williamson County, Texas home while he was . at work - but still, suspicion fell on him. He said that an intruder must have been responsible, but prosecutors accused of him of killing her after she refused to have sex with him on his birthday. He was convicted based on circumstantial evidence and sentenced to life in prison. Eric, who was just three, was sent to live with his aunt and visited his father twice a year in prison. 'It was always bitter sweet,' Morton told CNN's documentary, An Unreal Dream, which airs on Thursday. 'I would love seeing him, I was fascinated with his every move. 'But he was becoming more distant. He was becoming less mine.' Before tragedy: Morton is pictured with his wife Christine and their son Eric, who was three when she died . Confused: His son Eric, pictured today, said that he was embarrassed to visit his father in prison as a teen . As Eric grew up, his father felt more of a stranger to him, he told CNN. 'He barely existed in . my life,' Eric said. 'I didn't have memories of him outside of the visits to . prison... I think it was embarrassing for me to think that I had to go to jail to see my dad.' Eric added to Katie Couric in an . interview last year: 'When I was a teenager, I just wanted to . get on with my life. It just seemed strange. I didn't feel like I needed . to go. 'When I was 17 or . 18 I decided to research... and I came to the idea that he must've been . crazy. I thought that if he was innocent, he never would've been guilty . and never would've gone to jail.' Eventually, Eric said that he didn't want to see his father any more. Michael said it was 'numb, painful' - but that he could do nothing but ask his sister-in-law to take good care of his son. Together: The father and son, pictured on Katie Couric's show last year, say they are now close . Eric even changed his surname to Olson - the name of the family who raised him. But then the Innocence Project, a New York-based group working to help people wrongfully convicted, picked up Morton's case. Using techniques that . weren't available during his 1987 trial, authorities detected Christine . Morton's DNA on a bloody bandana discovered near the Morton home soon . after her death. Along with her DNA was the blood of a convicted felon, Mark Norwood, who went on to kill another woman, Debra Baker, in similar circumstances less that two years later. As well as the new evidence, the prosecutor in Morton's case, Ken Anderson, was accused of withholding crucial evidence. Accused: Prosecutors said Morton, seen in his mug shot, killed his wife after she refused to have sex with him . In addition to the bandana, he failed . to share that neighbors had described a man parking a green van behind . the house, or that Eric had seen the attack and said his father had not . been home. 'There was no scientific evidence, there . was no eyewitness, there was no murder weapon, there was no believable . motive,' Morton told CNN of his part in the killing. 'Innocent people think that if you just . tell the truth then you've got nothing to fear from the police. If you just stick to it that the system will work, it'll all . come to light, everything will be fine... 'I didn't see how any rational, thinking . person would say that's enough for a guilty verdict.' The new DNA evidence showed that he had indeed been wrongfully convicted, and last month, Ken Anderson pleaded no contest to criminal contempt for deliberately withholding exculpatory evidence. He stepped down from his position as a judge and agreed to serve 10 days in jail, although he served five due to good behavior laws - far, far less time than Morton was forced to endure. A free man: Morton, right, breathes in the fresh air after leaving the Williamson County courthouse in Taylor, Texas with his attorney on October 4, 2011. New DNA evidence exonerated him . Relief: He is pictured embracing his parents, Bill and Pat Morton, after gaining his freedom in 2011 . On October 4, Morton was released from . prison. Photographs taken on the moment show him holding his face to . the sun, breathing in the moment. Mark Norwood was later convicted after his DNA was found on a bloody bandana near the scene . 'I thank God it wasn't a capital case,' he said as he left. 'Colors seem real bright to me now. Women are real good looking.' Then he was reunited with his son - who he had last seen more than a decade before. 'He looked old,' Eric told Katie Couric. 'It was extremely awkward. I had no idea what to say.' But the pair worked on their relationship and Eric went on to have a daughter, whom he named Christine after his mother. 'I've never seen a more perfect child,' Michael added. 'I don't think Eric ever got me until he had her.' 'Life has come full circle,' Eric said. 'I do love him.' Morton now works on programs helping other innocent people behind bars and is religious, saying that his faith in God helped him through his ordeal and helps him to cope with what he lost. Earlier this year, Texas Governor Rick Perry signed the Michael Morton Act, which states prosecutors must turn evidence over to the defense upon the defendant's request, without needing a court order. 'Other people often feel far more anger than I do,' Morton told CNN. 'Vindication is very, very good, but it's something I knew all along.... It's really nothing new for me.'
to visit him behind bars. Michael Morton, a being wrongfully convicted of killing his wife in 1986 . In August 1986, Morton's wife, Christine, their Williamson County, Texas home while he was . at work - but still, suspicion fell on him. He circumstantial evidence and sentenced to life in his wife Christine and their son Eric, who was visit his father in prison as a teen . As Eric Couric's show last year, say they are now close . he had indeed been wrongfully convicted, and last was later convicted after his DNA was found on a states prosecutors must turn evidence over to the