Thomas Hagan, the only man who confessed to the assassination of Black civil rights leader Malcolm X, was finally granted parole after 16 previous attempts.

The 69-year-old appeared before the parole board on March 3rd, and his release will take effect on April 28. For the past two decades, Hagan has been on work release five days a week, and the other two days he was held a prisoner part-time at the Lincoln Correctional Facility in New York City's Harlem. The "five-in-two-out" schedule allowed Hagan to live with his family and work at an undisclosed job.

Hagan, then known as Talmadge X, along with his other two accomplices, Muhammad Abdul Aziz (then known as Norman 3X Butler) and Kahlil Islam (then known as Thomas 15X Johnson) were all convicted of murder. Hagan received 20 years to life on a first-degree murder charge for shooting the civil rights activist with a .45-caliber pistol at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City in 1965. Aziz and Islam were also convicted of murder, but they maintained their innocence. They were paroled about 20 years ago.

When Hagan shot Malcolm X, whom he called a "hypocrite," he was not only beaten up by the crowd in attendance at the Audubon but also shot in the legs by a bodyguard. He has always stood firm by his allegation that there were also two other men involved in the shooting. The two alleged gunmen were never identified.

Hagan, who confessed to having fired shots in to Malcolm's body, filed an appeal back in 2007, when he was denied yet again. He contended that the board's decision was capricious and arbitrary. Court papers state that Hagan has shown remorse for his part in the shooting.

"I've been incarcerated for 40 years, and I've had a good record all around," Hagan said to The New York Post. "I don't see any reason for holding me."