A mother who married a man serving two life sentences for double murder has spent thousands appealing his sentence as she's convinced of his innocence.

Kacey Rush, 43, from Los Angeles, California - a realtor, former model and mother-of-one - began writing to 49-year-old former Crip gangster and crack dealer Travis Berry in 2010.

In 2012, 18 years into his two life sentences, the pair married with the full support of Kacey's daughter Taylor who looks on Travis as a 'true father figure'.

Despite having only met nine times since they were married, Kacey knew from their first kiss that Travis was her soulmate, but it wasn't until 2017 that the couple were allowed a conjugal visit so they could consummate their union.

The family are now going through their fourth appeal to have his conviction overturned, with the decision pending.

Kacey admits she initially wrote to Travis out of pure curiosity, and she had no interest in even being penpals.

Scroll down for video

Kacey Rush, 43, from Los Angeles, California with her husband Travis Berry, 49, who is serving two life sentences for murder

The mother-of-one is certain of her husband's innocence and has spend thousands on lawyers to appeal his convictions

'In 2010 I came across a website that had Travis's name on it. I was more inquisitive about the psychology of people who commit these crimes,' she explained.

'I was digging about the psychological side of how they can say they are all innocent in prison and how everyone is innocent in prison.

'So I wrote him, I wanted to see what his answers would be as to why is he innocent. Like, "I don't believe you, so tell me why I should believe you?".

'I sent him a picture, just so he knew what I looked like. But it wasn't for a love interest, it wasn't to have a pen pal, I didn't want any of that. It was more like I wanted to know how his brain worked.

Kacey's daughter Taylor thought the relationship was just a phase at first, but now looks on Travis as a 'true father figure'

Calipatria State Prison, where Travis Berry is currently serving two life sentences for a double murder he maintains he did not commit

'I waited for the mail, not really thinking about it, and then he wrote me back and I got a letter from him.'

What Kacey knew was that on January 30, 1992, two men were shot dead in the back of a rental car. Travis was charged with two counts of murder, kidnapping and burglary, and found guilty and sentenced to two life sentences without the possibility of parole.

The pair corresponded via letters for three months, during which Kacey became increasingly more convinced of Travis' innocence, and decided to visit him in prison and meet him face-to-face.

She said: 'He popped out with the big ol' cheesy smile he has, and I knew I was in trouble then. I was in trouble like "Oh my god, what have I got myself into?" because I knew he was The One.

Shawn Johnston and Delores Sanders, the sisters of Travis Berry, say that Kacey has been a 'godsend' for their brother

Kacey Rush and her daughter Taylor Christensen on a visit to Travis in prison

Kacey is convinced Travis did not commit the crimes he was imprisoned for and has spent thousands of dollars in legal fees appealing his conviction

'He might be my complete opposite, he might be my biggest headache, he might be the biggest kick in my ass, but he is the one that I am bound to. I felt that all in that moment, it was really weird.'

Travis said despite being perplexed when Kacey first got in touch with him, his emotions ran high when she visited him for the first time.

'In the beginning, things are like a game to a certain extent, but when I actually saw her, things started changing for real,' Travis said.

'I got butterflies, my emotions were really out there, and I just kissed her.'

Kacey began working with Travis to overturn his conviction, doing her own investigations off the back of their conversations, before handing the case over to the Innocence Project, a legal non-profit organisation that works to exonerate wrongly convicted people.

Why is Travis Berry serving two life sentences? On 30th January 1992, Keith Cardell Thomas, 30, from LA and Daniel J. Chapman, 28, from Seattle were found dead in abandoned vehicle in Duarte, California after being shot in the head. Thomas was one of the oldest members of the Rollin' 60s Crips gang and had given four members marijuana valued at $10K to sell. He returned to Duarte to collect his money and drop off another load, but the members has already sold the drugs and spent the money and were waiting to kill him. Travis Berry was one of four men arrested after officers found fingerprints on the car and tip offs from informants. While admitting he was part of the gang, he insists he was not present when the two men were murdered. Tyson “T-Dog” Pearce admitted his own involvement, and implicated Travis, claiming he had helped to loot the SUV of money and drugs. Although it was never claimed that Travis has fired the fatal shots, his alleged involvement meant he was guilty under California law. Despite Pearce continually changing his story and little forensic evidence linking Travis to the scene, he was convicted of the two murders and sentenced to life in prison. Advertisement

The pair decided to commemorate their love by getting matching tattoos on their ring fingers.

Travis said: 'I thought I had to do it on my ring finger as for me that symbolises life, there is northing in the world that can ever separate us. We're forever, and we'll never divorce - we'll always be together.'

In February 2012, after a year long wait for the prison to find a chapel, the couple got married, with only Kacey's daughter Taylor present, and one of Travis' inmate friends there to act as a witness.

The pair had still never had never been alone without prison supervision, and wouldn't be for another five years after their wedding.

'We'd never had our chance to actually be alone one-on-one as a married couple, or as a regular couple, as anything,' Kacey said.

'The laws changed and lifers were granted family visits, so our first conjugal visit was in July 2017. That was the first time we ever got to have sex, and that is what changed our marriage.'

Kacey and her daughter visiting Travis. She has only been able to see her husband nine times since they married six years ago

Explaining to her family that she was romantically involved with a man convicted of a double homicide was a lot for them to take in, Kacey admits.

She said: 'But they can either accept it or they can move on. I am going to do what I am regardless of what someone tells me to do, unless it was detrimental to my daughter.'

When her mother told her she was dating an inmate, Kacey's daughter, Taylor Christensen, said she saw it as a passing phase that would be over in a few months, but now describes it as a blessing in disguise.

She said: 'I didn't have a male figure in my life to look up to and at that point in my life I didn't want one. He has done a lot for me, more than a lot of people have, and he's done it from behind prison walls, and it's meant so much to me.

The couple have only met each other a handful of times at Calipatria State Prison

Taylor said that her stepfather has done more for her from behind bars than any other man has in her life

Kacey turned to the Innocence Project, a legal non-profit organisation that works to exonerate wrongly convicted people to help free Travis

'He has shown me a true father figure. We are so close.'

Travis' family were no less confused by his budding romance with a stranger from the outside.

Shawn Johnston, Travis' younger sister, who created the website Kacey came across calling for help with Travis' appeal, said: 'I would never date someone in prison.

'I didn't think it's possible - you can't come home to them, you can hold their hand but you can hardly be intimate with them. There are lots of rules and regulations when you go for prison visits.

'I thought she was crazy, but the more visits she had with him, the more Travis started becoming himself again.

'His voice was lighter, the laughter was back, and I could see a glimmer of hope in his eyes, so Kacey's been a godsend. She's given him the hope he needed to see that there is light at the end of the tunnel.'

Finding the Innocence Project 'too slow', Kacey has used her own savings and borrowed thousands of dollars off her mother to hire attorneys to fight Travis' case.